21 December. ICCROM is saddened to learn that María Jesús San Segundo, former Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Kingdom of Spain to UNESCO, passed away on 17 December 2010.

María San Segundo graduated in economics from the Universidad del País Vasco, Spain, in 1980. Two years later, she received her Masters in economics followed by her PhD on “Empirical Studies of Quality of Schooling” from Princeton University, United States of America.

After teaching at the Universidad del País Vasco and Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, Dr San Segundo entered a career in politics, becoming Minister of Education and Science under the first Zapatero administration, from 2004-2006. Upon leaving government, she was appointed Ambassador of the permanent delegation to UNESCO, a position she held until November 2010. While Ambassador, she became Chairperson of the 33rd World Heritage Committee, which took place in June 2009 in Seville, Spain.

The Director-General and staff of ICCROM would like to present their most sincere condolences to her family and colleagues, particularly those at UNESCO.

Mounir Bouchenaki
Director-General

updated on: 21 December, 2010