In memoriam Juan Gutiérrez
Doctor of Civil Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy; recipient of the German Federal Cross of Merit and the Gernika Prize for Peace and Reconciliation.
1955 As a student representative from Spain’s higher engineering schools, he succeeded in persuading them to join the general strike called by the universities following the death of Ortega y Gasset.
1967 As a student representative at the University of Hamburg, he took part in the debates and protests in Germany that preceded the French May 1968.
1971 He worked as a social worker for Spanish and Portuguese workers at a shipyard in Hamburg; he also published the emigrant magazine *La Voz Nueva* in Spanish, German and Turkish.
1975–1981 I was a rather active member of a Spanish party – the ORT – which claimed to be Maoist whilst in fact being Stalinist; I even became a member of its central committee, but I broke with its discipline by leading a dissident group that introduced criticism into the party, leading to its dissolution a few months later.
1984–1986 I published the magazine *Begi Haundi* (‘Big-Eyed Squid’).
1987–2001: At the request of the Basque Parliament, I founded the Gernika Gogoratuz (GGG) research centre for peace and conflict resolution, and served as its first director. Through GGG, I took part for ten years in an informal mediation process between ETA and the Spanish Government, the Basque Government, the PSOE, the PNV, HB, EE, EA and the PP; I contacted the German Foreign Ministry and succeeded in getting the German President to send his ambassador in Madrid to read out a message at the first meeting of the relatives of bombing victims organised by GGG, acknowledging the atrocity and “calling for reconciliation”; I was part of the team that promoted peace education through the resolution of real conflicts affecting the participants; and I advised mediation teams in conflicts in Colombia, Northern Ireland, Croatia/Serbia, the United States, Guatemala and Australia, whilst also learning from them.
2005–2013 I was a member and adviser to the ‘11-M Association of Victims of Terrorism’.
2011–2021 I have led the Memory and the Commons Working Group at Medialab-Prado, where we have developed the ‘Strands of Living Peace’ (HPV) project and established the HPV Association, which I currently chair and which is currently seeking to become an international network.
Santiago Eraso Beloki.
La paz viva de Juan Gutierrez.
26 de julio de 2026
santieraso.com
Read the complete article
Interview
During the 31st Gernika International Conference on Culture and Peace, where he presented *Hebras de Paz Viva*.
