Nuccio Ordine: forerunner of the humanities and disciplines that 'make you fall in love'

Nuccio Ordine, Doctor Honoris Causa and 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, was honoured by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Comillas CIHS) at a meeting presented by his close friend, the journalist Juan Cruz. He recalled the last conversations he had with Ordine, highlighting his positivism by recalling a phrase that he repeated to him on many occasions: "everything is going to be fine".

The event brought together students, teachers and colleagues of the writer. The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Comillas CIHS), Susanne M. Cadera, inaugurated the ceremony by highlighting the great role that Ordine played at Comillas and the legacy that he left, not only among the students and faculty, but also among all those who had the opportunity to experience him more closely. Juan Cruz then brought the figure of his great friend closer to the attendants, conveying the importance of art and passion.

"He was always looking for a teacher and, for him, it was books". With these words Cruz exemplified his friend's passion for literature, arts and culture and all that these had brought him.

During this intimate ceremony, Laura Marini, Guzmán Gila, Olivia Pérez, Ainhoa Valero and Ekaterina Sainz, students from different degree courses at Comillas, such as Philosophy, Translation and Interpreting and Global Communication, read excerpts from Nuccio's La utilidad de lo inútil. A book that gave rise to a colloquium in which those present were involved, but especially the students, and which Juan Cruz defined as "a confession of humanity and patience".

Reflections on the background of solidarity, what is harmful or conventional, reasoning on the importance of philosophy and the study of the different currents of thought or impulses to bring out irrationalities, were some of the subjects dealt with in this colloquium.

Around this dialogue, and throughout the event, the importance that Ordine gave to culture was present. This message was reflected in the words of the speakers and was perfectly conveyed by Ainhoa, a philosophy student: "not cultivating the study of the humanities and culture in general is harmful on an individual level, but, above all, on a collective level".