Sara Topelson de Grinberg (assumedly born in the beginning of 1945) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-born

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Biography

Topelson is born to a Russian father and a Polish mother. Her family fled

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

to Mexico, when she was three months old.Eugenia Alvarez
''Sara Topelson de Grinberg; la mexicana que preside a los arquitectos del mundo.''
(Spanish), September 1, 1996. She studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM),

architectural theory Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, and writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in all architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are t ...

at the

Instituto Politécnico Nacional The National Polytechnic Institute (), abbreviated IPN, is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 171,581 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is the second-best university in Mexico in the techni ...

and

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

at the

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...

(INBA). Together with her husband José Grinberg she established the architecture bureau ''Grinberg & Topelson Arquitectos'', and created together with him several residential, educational, industrial, commercial and cultural buildings, as well as recreation centers. She was professor of history of art at the

Universidad Anáhuac The Anahuac University Network is a private universities system grouped and administered by the religious congregation of the Legion of Christ. The network is composed of several universities, some with different names and educational approache ...

and of its atelier of urban planning architecture. As professor she is also in charge at the

International Academy of Architecture International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IAA).International Academy of Architecture
''Sara Topelson de Grinberg''
/ref> Since 1982, she has been responsible for international affairs of the Federation of National Colleges of Architects of the Republic of Mexico (FNCARM), and has been council member of the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA) since 1990, where she was vice-president from 1993, and president from 1996 to 1999. Topelson was the first female president of the UIA.''Sara Topelson de Grinberg (Mexico): UIA President (1996-1999)''
, UIA. In May 1998 she made knighted of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

.''Arquitectura y Humanidades''
Topelson was director of architecture and conservation of art estate treasures in the

. She was director of urban planning in the Miguel Hidalgo delegation as well as main coordinator of the Research and Documentation center. (Spanish), SEDESOL. On January 5, 2007, president

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy ...

made her undersecretary of Urban Development and Territory Planning in the

Secretaría de Desarrollo Social The Secretariat of Welfare ( Spanish: ''Secretaría de Bienestar'') is the government department in charge of social development efforts in Mexico. The Secretary of Welfare is a member of the Executive Cabinet, and is appointed at the discretion ...

(SEDESOL).''Holcim Awards - Regional Jury 2008 Latin America; Sara Topelson de Grinberg''
September 4, 2007. She is emeritus member of the Academia Nacional de Arquitectura (ANA) and of the

Academia Mexicana de Arquitectura The Academia Mexicana de Arquitectura (AMA, ''Mexican Academy of Architecture'') is a Mexican professional architectural organization, that participates in all national debates of architects. Presidents * Joaquin Alvarez Ordóñez * Jesús Agu ...

(AMA), and honorary member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

, member of the

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...

(RAIC), of the Asociación Nicaragüense de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Venezuela, of the

Royal Australian Institute of Architects The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...

(RAIA), of the

Japan Institute of Architects The Japan Institute of Architects (JIA; , ''Nihon kenchikuka kyōkai'') is a voluntary organization for architects in Japan, and an affiliated organization of the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). The institution was founded in May 1987 ...

(JIA), as well as honorary member of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

since 2002 and of the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España.

Awards

* 1972: "Excelencia Académica" (''academic excellence''), Universidad Anáhuac * 1996: "Woman of the year", bestowed by

Óscar Espinosa Villarreal Óscar Espinosa Villarreal (born 23 November 1953) is a Mexicans, Mexican former politician who served as the List of mayors of Mexico City, Mayor of Mexico City from 1994 to 1997 and Mexico's Secretariat of Tourism, Secretary of Tourism from 1997 ...

in order of

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Re ...

* 1998: Chevalier of the ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' * 1988 "Bene Merentibus" medal of the Polish association of architecture * Silver decoration of the ''Colegio de Arquitectos'',

Cataluña Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

* 25-year "Excelencia Académica" medal of academic merits, Universidad Anáhuac * 2003: "

Mario Pani Mario Pani Darqui (March 29, 1911 – February 23, 1993) was a Mexican architect and urbanist. He was one of the most active urbanists under the Mexican Miracle, and gave form to a good part of the urban appearance of Mexico City, with emblema ...

" medal, Colegio de Arquitectos de la Ciudad de México (CAM) in the

Sociedad de Arquitectos de México Sociedad is a municipality in the Morazán department of El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on t ...

(SAM)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topelson De Grinberg, Sara Mexican women academics National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Instituto Politécnico Nacional alumni Polish emigrants to Mexico Academic staff of Universidad Anáhuac México Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 1945 births Living people Mexican Jews Mexican people of Russian-Jewish descent Mexican people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish people of Russian-Jewish descent Architects from Mexico City Mexican women architects 20th-century Mexican architects 21st-century Mexican architects Presidents of the International Union of Architects