Luis Suárez Fernández (1924-2024) passed away on December 15. He was a brilliant historian, with a kind pen, a consummate medievalist; a humanist for whom history illuminates our journey through time. The first book of his that I studied during my university days, in the 1970s, was Great Interpretations of History. It tasted like water in May, in the monotonous rigidity of Marxism that colored all the general studies subjects at my state university. Marxism left no room for freedom, the “inevitable laws of history” would be fulfilled no matter what: the class struggle was the midwife of history. The only way was a violent revolution. Instead, this book by Professor Luis Suárez showed me the different ways of understanding History since the appearance of human cultures, openness to rationality, and the creative freedom of human beings. It reaffirmed the freedom I had experienced in my school of Vincentian parents and home.
Since then, I continued reading several of his books: those dedicated to the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel; his studies on the configuration of the European monarchies; and his essays on the Christian roots of Western culture. Books; some, specialized; others, popular. In the latter, he took the pulse of the present times, searching for understanding and meaning. They are writings that summarize serenity and hope, in which I have found guidance on the great themes of our culture: the birth of universities, the legacy of Renaissance Humanism, the figure of the great saints who forged Europe, and the contributions of Spain to Western culture.
Luis Suárez was one of the people I would have liked to have met personally. I tried it on a trip to Madrid a few years ago. I received a kind reply from his family, who told me that visits were already difficult for him. My intention was only to greet him, and thank him for what his works of history have meant in my university education. When I learned of his death a few days ago, I remembered reading his books and I was also overcome with great sorrow at his departure. Let me write down my gratitude and the affection that his person and work always inspired in me. Rest in peace, Don Luis, and may God have you in his glory.
