Born in 1977, Bruno Navarro took over the presidency of the foundation that managed the Côa Museum and Park in June 2017. The Côa Museum is a member of the National Network of Ciência Viva Centres. He died suddenly on Saturday, January 30, in Lisbon. Bruno Navarro was a historian, PhD and researcher and lecturer at several universities. We share these words from Ciência Viva and we send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues at this time.

“Bruno, we write these words as a letter to you, for you to read slowly, where you lay eternally at rest.

You were the ‘great rebuilder’ of the Côa Valley, always fond of taking on new things and projects whose legacy will stand proud in a magnificent place that holds millions of years of history. For you, it was the people that mattered the most; you were a friend in the workplace and always tolerant of others. You accepted the invitation to work at Ciência Viva with a profound joy of embracing newness, all the while maintaining time for your other commitments. The great Côa lived in you, in your dreams, in the admiration for the work of your colleagues.

Everyone could always count on you.

You were formally elected onto the Ciência Viva Board in September, but you were one of us long before then. Even last Friday, just before you passed, we were together at a board meeting; we shared out tasks, we laughed, we concluded that the crucial thing to do was to share major decisions, and with your joy, you illuminated a future that now seems so difficult for those you have left behind. We even talked about how one of these days we would celebrate with a good bottle of wine from the Douro valley.

Faia the puppy that you left in the Côa Museum, so beautiful and gentle to everyone she meets, will be the guardian of your dreams; and Paco the cat will be there to comfort your children for years to come. We, in the Network of Ciência Viva and in the Pavilion of Knowledge, will not forget that. We are grateful for your wisdom, your friendship, your joy. You were a good person and a great professional. You didn’t have the time to get to know the large Ecsite family as you were so eager to, with your enthusiasm for museums and science centres. Bruno Navarro, you are ours forever".

Rosalia Vargas, President of Ciência Viva and Director of the Pavilion of Knowledge

Ana Noronha, Executive Director of Ciência Viva

on behalf of the Ciência Viva team