We are saddened today by the news of the passing of a great lady, María Josefa Huarte, just two weeks after Their Majesties the King and Queen inaugurated the University of Navarra Museum. On January 22, 2015, a wish dear to her heart was fulfilled: that her collection, assembled with special taste and sensitivity over decades, would remain in Navarre, accessible to all Navarrese and those who visit us.

María Josefa did not aspire to the mere exhibition of the works. She had promoted the Chair Félix Huarte of Aesthetics and Contemporary Art and wished to link her donation to an academic project . She wanted, once again moved by her social sense, to develop a work on these works professor and research; an educational task, in final, aware of how formative the truth of art is.

In these moments of sorrow, I would like to emphasize once again the extraordinary generosity of María Josefa. Above any other legitimate interest, she knew how to put the good for the whole of society that these works are exposed to the public and serve for an activity professor and research in a university framework . One more act of magnanimity in a life full of works of service.

Certainly, Maria Josefa had magna anima, a great soul, as did her parents, Adriana and Felix, to whom the University of Navarra will always owe a debt of gratitude. A soul with very vivid Christian roots, which always led him to think of others, whether by offering a home to orphaned children in various parts of the world, or by striving, with Navarrese tenacity, so that everyone could enjoy his art collection.

In recent times I have had the good fortune to get to know her husband, Javier Vidal, better. I would not like to end these lines of homage to his wife without also highlighting her figure. I have been moved many times by her delicate and affectionate submission during these years of deterioration of María Josefa's health. And I am grateful to have witnessed her truly luminous example of daily fidelity.

María Josefa Huarte was not very fond of praise, as befitted her simple and humble character. She would elegantly change her tune when a conversation slipped into praise of her. So I should not dwell further on her many merits, confident, moreover, that they will have already obtained the reward that never ends. But I do believe it is my obligation as President to express once again the gratitude of the University of Navarra to María Josefa Huarte and our commitment to make her bequest fruitful.