Goodbye to a friend
José Alejandro Flores
30 June 1940 – 16 February 2019
Alejandro Flores (born 1940 in Guatemala) attended the ICCROM Architectural Conservation course in 1971. He shared this extraordinary experience with Roberto Marta†, Gaël de Guichen and Jukka Jokilehto, with whom he remained friends for almost half a century. Alejandro passed away on 16 February 2019.
He stayed in the Old World for three years after the course, as he was given the opportunity to participate in the technical mission organized by ICOMOS President Professor Piero Gazzola, joining the Ethiopian team working on Coptic stone temples. This experience was later essential in his work in Guatemala after the 1976 earthquakes.
Alejandro was key to the success of URPAC (Unidad para el Rescate de Patrimonio Cultural), a unit created by the Institute of Anthropology and History of Guatemala, which worked after the Guatemala quakes to address emergencies occurring over the 75% of the country affected by seismic damage.
Alejandro taught at several Guatemalan universities, including San Carlos, Rafael Landívar, Francisco Marroquín and ISTMO. His prolific professional practice and superb dedication were matched by his rich family life with his wife, restorer Aura Rosa González, his daughter Alejandra José and grandchildren Félix and Lucas.
– JM Magaña Juárez