Santiago Grisolia Garcia (Valencia, 1923) He passed away tonight at the age of 99. It would reach its centennial year in January. Grisolía has always wanted to be a sailor. It was this youthful obsession that would set him on the path of medicine and then molecular biology. Fearing that they would mobilize him and call in soldiers, his father managed to volunteer him at a hospital in Cuenca. “My mom asked me because she was so smart, why don’t you take advantage of this experience and become a doctor, Mestalla, her childhood neighborhood. After spending a lifetime in the United States, the professor returned to Valencia to live on Calle Severo Ochoa, minutes from his birthplace, which had been destroyed by the expansion of Alameda.
Wise maternal advice permeated Grisolía.He was to graduate in Medicine from the University of Valencia in 1944. After receiving his doctorate in Madrid in 1949, he would continue his education at New York University in the United States with his great mentor, Severo Ochoa. It was at this center that he would begin his research on carbon dioxide fixation. “It took us almost a month to get to American soil because the ship made many stops to be profitable but it wasn’t heavy for me because there was so much famine in Spain and they were very well fed on board,” he said. the irony that characterizes it.
While in exile across borders he always took advice to his youngest, “go abroad to complete your education, but not more than seven or eight years”. “If you let more time pass, you risk not wanting to go back,” he said. Although she got married in the United States and started a family there, her wish has always been to return to Spain. “I am in love with this city, I was and still am when I went to New York and when I came back”, He pointed in front of the old Porta de la Mar or Torres de los Guardas.
The biochemist, winner of the Prince of Asturias Award for his research work, wearing his famous hat and leaning against a graceful walking stick, possessed a capacity for resistance that was a source of both praise and surprise in equal measure. In addition to his family roots, he returned to Valencia after a long college tour in Kansas, Michigan or Wisconsin because he saw that “many things” could be done. There was money for research and a scene of very exciting challenges was unfolding, he defended it as best he could. At the end of 1976, the Institute for Cytological Research was opened in Valencia, which he directed until 1992, making it one of the best research centers in the country. A time of enthusiasm, sealed by the rescue of a figure as prestigious as the Marquess of Grisolía, a title bestowed on him for his contribution to Spanish science.
He was President of the Rei Jaume I Awards Foundation, Chairman of the UNESCO Human Genome Project Scientific Coordinating Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Prince Felipe Center Board of Trustees, and also chaired the Valencian Cultural Council. He was also a big supporter of the Rei Jaume I Awards and was also an advisor to the Generalitat Valenciana’s committee of science and technology experts. Awards awarded include the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Health in 1984, the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit in 1992, the Medal of Merit for Research and University Education (2010), or most recently the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic in 2018.