Los Realejos Honors Chemist Antonio Morales Méndez in Homecoming Tribute

This Thursday, Los Realejos City Hall will host a public tribute to Antonio Morales Méndez, a distinguished figure in organic chemistry. The event will feature the launch of a new biography by historian Javier Lima Estévez, celebrating a scientist who is returning to his native Tenerife after 60 years to revisit the landscape of his childhood.

Morales’ journey reflects the experience of a generation of mid-20th-century Canarian researchers who took their expertise abroad. Unlike many who emigrated for economic reasons, Morales moved to Venezuela in 1967 to pursue a strategic professional opportunity. Having trained at the University of La Laguna under Prince of Asturias Award winner Antonio González González, he joined the founding team of the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Los Andes (ULA) in Mérida. There, he applied the research methods he had mastered at the CSIC and La Laguna to the Venezuelan academic landscape.

His story highlights the value of the educational investment made in the Canary Islands during the 1930s and 1940s. At a time when university access was a rare privilege, his family’s commitment to his education allowed him to specialize in chemistry—a field he describes as the foundation of all biological processes.

Although Morales retired from teaching in 1994, he remains intellectually active, continuing to publish scientific work, serve on editorial boards, and write for the press. His career has earned him significant honors in South America, including the Doctor Rafael Chuecos Poggioli Order and the ULA Bicentennial Distinction. The tribute in Los Realejos marks more than just a book launch; it represents a homecoming for a scientist who has maintained a lifelong connection to his roots in La Cruz Santa, serving as a testament to the lasting impact of Canarian science on the global stage.