Francisco Pérez González, honorary CEO of Grupo PRISA, dies

Francisco Pérez González, who along with Jesus de Polanco founded publishing house Santillana, died in Madrid on October 23, 2010, at the age of 84.

González Pérez, known as Pancho, was born in Buenos Aires in 1926, but, while still young, came to Spain to settle in Cantabria, a region with which he always maintained an affectionate relationship.

In 1954 he founded the publishing house Taurus, specializing in works by leading European thinkers. A few years later he met Jesus de Polanco, striking up a close and lifelong friendship from which would emerge what would later evolve into the world's leading Spanish-language media and communications group, PRISA. Santillana celebrates its 50th anniversary in December and Pérez González was personally dedicated throughout his life to expanding the group throughout Latin America.

Francisco Perez Gonzalez's career was inextricably linked to Grupo PRISA, where he was honorary CEO. He was also CEO of El País, Cadena SER and Sogecable. He chaired the National Booksellers' Association (Agrupación Nacional de Libreros), the Federation of Publishers' Guilds of Spain (Federación de Gremios de Editores de España) and the Guild of Publishers of Madrid (Gremio de Editores de Madrid).

Francisco Perez Gonzalez was a central figure in the Spanish and Latin American publishing world for more than half a century. The Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) granted him its Medal of Honor in 1992 and invested him an honorary doctorate in the summer of 2009.