Last week marked the 12th anniversary of receiving the National Prize for Science and Arts in the field of physical, mathematical and natural sciences from the hands of the President of the Republic on November 24, 2010 at the National Palace. It’s been a very exciting week, since the late Alonso Luambio, then Minister of Public Education, called me to give me the news, until the delivery, at the same time, honoring figures like writers Gonzalo Celorio in another. Enrique Cruz and Dr. Soledad Loza.
The National Science Prize was first awarded in 1945. On that occasion, only Alfonso Reyes received it in the field of Linguistics and Literature. In the following years categories were added, so that starting in 1976, five categories were awarded each year: 1, Fine Arts, 2, Linguistics and Literature, 3, History, Social Sciences and Philosophy, 4, Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and 5, Technology and Innovation and design. Starting in 1984, Category 6, Folk Arts and Traditions, was added. The whole process was managed by the SEP, until the last six-year period, when, with the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, four categories were passed to this new secretariat and only two remained in the SEP. Famous people in the country’s history have earned this distinction such as Octavio Paz, Luis Bunuel, Jaime Sabines, Donato Alarcón Segovia, Carlos Monseves and Ruy Pérez Tamayo, to name a few.
The work done by the academic community in each country contributes significantly to the formation and preservation of national identity. A country’s sovereignty does not depend solely on its armed forces. It results largely from historical memory, the preservation of language and languages, poetry and literature, the science generated to understand and solve their problems, the study of biodiversity, the fine arts in all their expressions, presented in different ways. The problems of each country, as well as the promotion and preservation of folk arts. This as a whole gives us our own ideas. Otherwise, we just live off other people’s ideas. What would our national identity be without Moncayo’s Huapango or Octavio Paz’s Piedra del Sol?
For this reason, governments recognize the most outstanding personalities, as a form of gratitude and appreciation, not only to the laureates in particular, but also to the entire academic community, as they represent the tip of the iceberg. This makes us more visible and invites young people to get involved in academia and the fine arts.
Gonzalo Silorio
Since 1976, all but two governments have honored academics and thinkers. During President Fox’s six-year term, the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Prize winners were announced, but the President “didn’t have time to hand them out” until 2004. During the current six-year period, the Cultural Prize winners have been announced, but we don’t We still don’t know who the Science Prize winners will be in 2020, 21 and 22. No matching rendition has been made.
In this six-year term, the value of the original prize has been reduced to 10%, by which the government will save about six million pesos a year, a paltry sum when compared to the cost of canceling an airport or the cost of yesterday’s march, as they say, over a billion pesos. . Last week, in addition, government support for the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was withdrawn.
Dr. Gerardo Gamba
National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubirán and
Biomedical Research Institute, UNAM
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