The Hon ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

. Dr. John Reginald Garcia Valarino MB, ChB, better known as Reggie Valarino, (9 June 1941 – 13 March 2009) was a

Gibraltarian Gibraltarians (Spanish: ''gibraltareños'', colloquially: '' llanitos'') are an ethnic group native to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea ...

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

Dr. Valarino was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain, in 1941 to Federico Garcia Montalvo and Eugenia Valarino. His father was a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

and his mother a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

and

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

Medical career

Dr. Valarino graduated as a

medical practitioner A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

from the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

and had been working in the field since 1967, having started his professional career in Gibraltar at

St Bernard's Hospital St Bernard's Hospital is the only public hospital and teaching hospital in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. History Juan Mateos In 1567, during Gibraltar's Spanish period, a retired Spanish innkeeper by the name of Juan Mateos ...

. Soon after, he opened his own private practice in Gibraltar.

Political career

Dr. Valarino was first elected to the then

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

(now the

Gibraltar Parliament The Gibraltar Parliament is the legislature of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Between 1969 and 2006, it was called the Gibraltar House of Assembly. Functions The House of Assembly, set up under the 1969 constitution, was a unic ...

) in the 1976 general election as a member of the Gibraltar Democratic Movement (GDM). He was also a former Minister of the

Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights The Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights (AACR) was a political party in Gibraltar. History The AACR was established in 1942 by Joshua Hassan and Albert Risso, and sought to protect the interests of families evacuated during World W ...

(AACR) through several terms and member of the

Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party The Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) is a social-democratic political party in Gibraltar. The GSLP is the oldest surviving active political party in Gibraltar. Its roots are based in the trade union movement, as its founder and former lea ...

(GSLP), serving a total of almost 20 years as an

elected representative Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a type of democracy where elected delegates represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies funct ...

of the people of Gibraltar both in

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

and in Opposition.

Later life and death

Dr. Valarino had been a member of a number of public committees. From 1994–1996 he was chairman of the Gibraltar branch of the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...

. He was regional representative of the

British Islands The British Islands is a term within the law of the United Kingdom which refers collectively to the following four polities: * the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; * the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including the jurisdictio ...

and Mediterranean Region of the

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...

and was a past secretary of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(Gibraltar branch). He was also Life President of the Gibraltar Hockey Association. He died on 13 March 2009, aged 67, after a long illness. Following news of his death, the Gibraltar Parliament observed a

minute's silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...

in his memory on 17 March 2009. A

memorial service A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

was held for him at the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned on 18 March 2009, which filled to capacity with attendees.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valarino, Reggie 1941 births 2009 deaths Government ministers of Gibraltar Gibraltarian medical doctors Democratic Party for a British Gibraltar politicians Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights politicians Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party politicians 20th-century physicians Alumni of the University of Liverpool

Early life

Medical career

Political career

Later life and death

See also

References