Chesús Bernal

Chesús Gregorio Bernal Bernal (8 January 1960 – 22 March 2019) was a Spanish academic and politician. He was a professor at the University of Zaragoza, specialising in Romance languages. In 1986, he co-founded the Chunta Aragonesista (CHA), and served in the Cortes of Aragon from 1995 to 2011.

Biography

Bernal was born in Valtorres in the Province of Zaragoza. He began his studies in Romance Philology at the University of Salamanca but finished it at the University of Zaragoza. He specialised in the French language, though his doctoral thesis was on Occitan. He and Francho Nagore edited a 1999 dictionary of the Aragonese language. He taught French at his alma mater, where he was a professor.^[1]

On holiday in Galicia in 1986, he studied left-wing Galician nationalism, meeting with Camilo Nogueira of the Galician Left. Inspired by this research,^[2] later that year he was a founding member of the Chunta Aragonesista (CHA), and was their leader as they entered the Cortes of Aragon in the 1995 elections, staying in office until 2011.^[1] In the 2003 elections, CHA had their best results, coming third with nine deputies, but regional president Marcelino Iglesias (PSOE) preferred a coalition with the eight deputies of the Aragonese Party (PAR).^[2]

Bernal was married to journalist Elena Bandrés, who was also a professor at the University of Zaragoza; they had three sons.^[3] He was a fan of Real Zaragoza, and went to watch the team in the last week of his illness.^[1]

Bernal died of pancreatic cancer in Zaragoza at the age of 59. He lay in rest at the Aljafería, the seat of the Cortes of Aragon.^[1] Tributes were paid by local and regional politicians of all parties.^[4] In May 2021, a sociocultural centre in Valtorres was named after him.^[5]

References

1. Castro, Antón (22 March 2019). "Muere Chesús Bernal, político de Chunta" [Chesús Bernal, Chunta politician, dies]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
2. Díaz, Plácido (22 March 2019). "Chesús Bernal, un relámpago" [Chesús Bernal, a bolt of lightning]. ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
3. "Un cáncer se lleva a Chesús Bernal a los 59 años" [Cancer takes Chesús Bernal at the age of 59]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
4. "Cientos de personas despiden a Chesús Bernal, fundador de Chunta Aragonesista" [Hundreds of people say goodbye to Chesús Bernal, founder of Chunta Aragonesista] (in Spanish). Ara Info. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
5. "El Centro 'Chesús Bernal' de Valtorres inicia su temporada con el filósofo Enrique Bonete" [The 'Chesús Bernal' centre in Valtorres begins its season with the philosopher Enrique Bonete] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 20 September 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2022.