On 1 February 2018 , JINR Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba in JINR, a Scientific Adviser to the Cuban President, Vice-President of the Cuban Academy of Sciences Professor Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart passed away at the age of 68.

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart

01.09.1949 – 01.02.2018

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart was born on 1 September 1949 in Havana. In 1974, he graduated with honours from the Moscow State University in specialization “Nuclear physics”, he wrote his thesis on the base of the Dubna branch of MSU. In USSR, he studied with fictitious name Jose Raul Fernandez Diaz to conceal his relationship with the leader of the Cuban Revolution. In 1974 – 1978, he worked in the Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of JINR in Dubna. In 1978, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart got the Candidate’s Degree in the Kurchatov Institute for Atomic Energy. He defended his Doctoral thesis in the Cuban Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies in 1999. From 1980 to 1992, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart headed the Cuban Atomic Energy Agency. He took an active part in development and implementation of the Cuban Nuclear Programme.

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart has held the office of the Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba in JINR since 2012. He has always been a participant of Sessions of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries of the Governments of the JINR Member States and participated in development of JINR-Cuban cooperation.

In 2013, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart became Honored Professor of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Earlier, in 2008, he was honoured with the title of MEPhI Honoured Doctor.

Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart is the author of 11 books and more than 150 scientific articles on nuclear physics and energy including the book “Nuclear Energy. Environmental danger or solution for the 21st century?”.

We express deep and sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart. The fond memory of this brilliant scientist and man will remain forever in our hearts.