Jaime Brunet Foundation

The Jaime Brunet Foundation is a cultural private socially-significant foundation, permanent in nature. Its goals are: to foster respect for human dignity, for fundamental freedoms and human rights, as well as to eradicating inhumane or degrading situations and treatments.

The Foundation promotes activities with that purpose and studies related to respecting said values, such as the Jaime Brunet Awards call, seminars or conferences to analyse and defend human rights.

Profil of Jaime Brunet

Jaime Brunet Romero was born in Bayonne (France) on the 20th of July 1926 and died on the 4th of January 1992 in San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa). Born into a family of Catalan businesspeople who moved to Guipúzcoa in the 18th century (where they performed significant industrial work), he was educated in a liberal environment, highly critical of the times in which he lived. He was encouraged to study Law by his father, Jaime Brunet Goitia, local head of the Republican Party, elected Deputy Mayor of San Sebastián, where his grandfather and great-grandfather had also previously held the post of Mayor. He studied at the University of Valladolid, where he worked for some time as an Assistant Professor.

His love of reading was only matched by that of learning languages, which allowed him to get by with ease on his many travels, which took him, despite the difficulties of the day, to more than thirty countries. It was during his travels that he realised the degree of discrimination, violence and abuse of the weak by the powerful still present in the XX century and the ease with which the most elementary of human rights were infringed on a daily basis. During the later years of his life, his sensitivity towards human rights and the defence of civil freedom, even in the face of the Public Authorities, became a constant concern.

In the absence of heirs, and stirred by a disgust for injustice, he decided to leave his fortune in order that a foundation bearing his name be created on his death devoted to disseminating human rights and rewarding those whose work in their defence should merit such recognition. This led to the creation of the Fundación Jaime Brunet Romero, based at the Public University of Navarre, in accordance with his last will and testament.

Foundation Board

• Honorary Chair: President of the Spanish Parliament
• Honorary Vice-Chair: President of the Parliament of Navarre
• Chair: Ramón Gonzalo
• Vice-Chair: Joaquín Mencos Doussinague
• Secretary: Francisco Javier Blázquez Ruiz

Members:

• Antonio Gorri Goñi
• Francisco Javier Blázquez Ruiz
• José Luis Iriarte Ángel
• Patricia Plaza Ventura
• José María Rifá Soler
• Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez
• Carlos Tamburri Moso
• Luis Guillermo Perinat Elío
• Javier Sáinz de los Terreros Goñi

Advisor: Fátima Baigorri Romero