With the Blanco-White Series, the Cervantes Institute in London wants to delve into the stories and characters that, over time and to our day, have served to strengthen the links between Spain and Great Britain.
Juan Luis Cebrián (1944) is a Spanish writer and journalist. He is chairman of El País, the newspaper he founded as its first-ever editor in 1976 and which today is the most widely circulated and prestigious newspaper in Spanish. It is published by the news, education and entertainment group PRISA, of which Cebrián was Executive Chairperson until January 2018. He has been a member of the Royal Spanish Academy since 1996 and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Le Monde. He studied Philosophy at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and graduated from the Escuela Oficial de Periodismo (Official Journalism School) in Madrid in 1963.
In 1964 he joined the newspaper Pueblo as an editor, where he remained until 1967. He was the co-founder of the magazine Cuadernos para el Diálogo. In 1968 he became editor of the newspaper Informaciones, of which he was appointed deputy editor-in-chief in 1969. In 1974 he joined RTVE as head of news services at the state television broadcaster.
As a founding editor of El País, Cebrián led the newspaper from its launch in May of 1976 until November of 1988, when he was named editor-in-chief and CEO of the newspaper, as well as CEO of Grupo PRISA. He was also the CEO of Sogecable, PRISA’s TV company, from its establishment in 1989 until 1999. He also served as president of the International Press Institute (IPI). In 2004 he served as President of the Association of Spanish Newspaper Publishers (AEDE). While at the helm of the newspaper El País, Cebrián played a crucial role in the Spanish political transition from dictatorship to democracy.
ABOUT BLANCO-WHITE DIALOGUES
‘Blanco-White Dialogues’: Juan Luis Cebrián in conversation with Ignacio Peyró at Instituto Cervantes London
Feb 3 rd 7 pm, Instituto Cervantes of London (15-19 Devereux Ct, Temple, London WC2R3JJ)
Tickets £6 (Spanish)
Photo © https://www.flickr.com/photos/casamerica/42949256480
