Passing of Ambassador Sérgio Paulo Rouanet

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has learned with deep sorrow of the passing of Ambassador Sergio Paulo Rouanet, in Rio de Janeiro, on July 3.

Sérgio Paulo Rouanet was admitted to the Rio Branco Institute in 1955. During his 47-year diplomatic career, he served in Brazilian Missions in Washington, New York and Geneva; he was Consul General in Zurich and Berlin, and Ambassador to Denmark and the Czech Republic. In Brazil, he headed the Commercial Policy Division and the Department of Asia and Oceania. In his many relevant contributions to foreign policy, he became known as a formulator of proposals favorable to developing countries within the GATT, the predecessor agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

A distinguished public figure, he was Secretary of Culture of the Presidency of the Republic, from 1991 to 1992, and made relevant contributions to the dissemination of Brazilian culture abroad.

One of the great contemporary intellectuals, Rouanet was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1992, occupying chair n. 13, having been received by the academic and diplomat Antonio Houaiss. He was also the holder of chair n. 34 of the Brazilian Academy of Philosophy.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Carlos Alberto Franco França, expresses his condolences to the family, especially Professor Bárbara Freitag, his wife, and the colleagues and friends of Ambassador Sérgio Paulo Rouanet, joining all those who mourn the loss of a great thinker and diplomat, always committed to Brazil.