Nicolas Muela Velasco: A Friend Has Passed Away
On January 4, 2016, a great man passed away in Seville.
A driving force and deputy chairman of the Iberian-American Gastronomy Academy, director of the Doña María de las Mercedes Foundation, executive member of the Entrepreneurs Confederation of Andalusia (CEA), Director of Institutional Relations and Communication for Corte Inglés Andalusia, and former head of the export division of FASA Renault.
Nicolas Muela graduated at the Polytechnic University of Madrid as an aeronautical engineer and he got his master’s degree in Industrial Relations at the UCLA University, and in Protocol at the European Protocol Center.
He was given the 2013 Excelencias Group’s Figure of the Year Award, for his outstanding contribution to the spread out of gastronomic culture in Iberian-America, as a source of health, tradition and development, as well as a key element to strengthen bonds among countries and cities, a firm champion of the values of Iberian-American, Andalusian and Spanish gastronomy.
Nicolas, friend, professional, consultant, a man of excellent willingness, has left us tonight. Trying to write about the history and life of a friend is a huge challenge. History can be reviewed in different ways and memory features a weird behavior, so trying to recall a part of the moments we lived together is both painful and complex as the impact of his death is still fresh.
We cannot simplify the history of any of us, so writing a biographical sketch entails going back to experiences, memories, trying to recall the moments we’ve lived and accepting that we won’t go through them again. These words intend to stand for a well-deserved tribute not only to the man, but to the husband, father, grandfather, friend, academician, who has left a great void with his passing away on January 4, 2016, but he shared a piece of life with us for years.
Life was all about activity and constant presence to Nicolas, so he’ll keep on living in our lives through the history we’ve shared and the immensity of memories we have. He was a constant example of bravery, just as it’s verbalized by the memories turned into words by those who shared different spaces where he showed a firm and determined presence. This can be testified by the people that stood by him on the last Monday of his life, who were his companions in a face-to-face battle, just like the one that is constantly carried out by fighters.
It’s been hard for me to write these words, I know that this resistance against writing is related to the fact that he would be bothered by much of what I say here and he would refute every word in a vehement manner, especially those praising his name.
I know that much of his great history is missing here, the biggest developments, meaningful losses, everything that is worth to keep on living for, a life where he will always be present, but we’ll miss his firm words that always helped us go forward, an important lesson of life.
The members of the Excelencias Group with whom you spent pleasant moments, especially on the island of Cuba, where you accompanied us since 2011 in our seminars and you directly kept an eye on the evolution of gastronomy in this country, will never forget you.
Jose Carlos de Santiago
Ambassador of the Iberian-American Gastronomy Academy
CEO of the Excelencias Group
