(Photo by Paolo Pegoraro/Pontifical Gregorian University)
On 28 June 2022, Prof. Eleonora Barbieri Masini passed away in Rome. Born in Los Amates (Guatemala) on 19 November 1928, Prof. Masini graduated in law and sociology from the State University of Rome. Her studies have focused on social changes and their possible and probable evolution in the medium- and long-term future. In particular, she has tried to identify what the future holds for education and the family, focusing her attention on women as builders of alternative futures in different countries and cultures.
In 1976 Prof. Masini began teaching at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in the Faculty of Social Sciences, holding courses on Social and Human Forecasting, and later in the area of Human Ecology (1991), courses that he conducted until the end of his teaching activity at the end of the first semester of the 2003-2004 academic year. At the proposal of the then acting Rector, Fr. Franco Imoda S.J., she was appointed Professor Emeritus for academic merits by Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S.J., Vice Grand Chancellor of the University: in her thirty years of teaching, Prof. Masini was in fact a pioneer of forecasting studies both in Italy and the rest of the world. Also in 2004, she was awarded the honour Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in recognition of her studies in the fields of Human Ecology and Human Forecasting, for how she had been able to "make her Christian mark by successfully combining faith and science".
For her merits and academic expertise in an innovative field, Prof. Masini carried out intensive research and teaching activities in Dubrovnik and in various European, African and Latin American countries, as far as China. She also held positions such as Secretary General (1975-1980) and then President (1980-1990) of the World Futures Studies Federation; Coordinator of the project "The Futures of Cultures" for UNESCO (1991-1994); President of the World Association for Science and Arts for Europe (1991-1995); Coordinator of the WIN Network (Women's International Network) Emergency and Solidarity, sponsored by UNESCO and set up on the initiative of Prof. Rita Levi Montalcini; Chairman of the Futures Research Committee of the International Sociological Association (1978-1997).
On 23 May 2013, the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University honoured Prof. Barbieri by presenting the volume Eleonora Barbieri Masini: Alma de los estudios de los futuros (Mexico City 2013), an event attended by the then acting Rector Fr. François-Xavier Dumortier S.J., the editors of the work, family members and a large number of students from the Faculty of Social Sciences. Remembering with gratitude her service to the Church and to our University, we pray the Risen Lord to welcome her into His peace.
(Photo by Paolo Pegoraro/Pontifical Gregorian University)