Abstract

It was with great sadness that we received the news of the death of Francisco Varela, who passed away at his home in Paris, on 28 May, 2001.Varela was well known for his work in a number of scientific fields. He was the co-originator (with Humberto Maturana) of the theory of autopoiesis 1xSee all References1, and was one of the first proponents of the embodied or ‘enactive’ approach to cognition 2xVarela, F.J., Thompson, E., and Rosch, E. See all References2. He was known for his work on autonomous-network models of the immune system 3xSecond generation immune networks. Varela, F.J. and Coutinho, A. Immunol. Today. 1991; 12: 159–166Abstract | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (233)See all References3. In recent years, he provided groundbreaking studies using multiple-electrode recordings and mathematical analysis of large-scale neuronal integration during cognitive processes 4xThe brainweb: phase synchronization and large-scale integration. Varela, F.J. et al. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2001; 2: 229–239Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (2228)See all References4, showing for the first time that the human perception of meaningful complex forms is accompanied by phase-locked, synchronous oscillations in distinct brain regions 5xPerception's shadow: long-distance synchronization of human brain activity. Rodriguez, E. et al. Nature. 1998; 397: 430–433See all References5, and that nonlinear analysis can be used to predict seizures in epileptic patients prior to the onset of symptoms 6xEpileptic seizures can be anticipated by non-linear analysis. Martinerie, J. et al. Nat. Med. 1998; 4: 1173–1176Crossref | PubMed | Scopus (278)See all References6. He was also known for his original philosophical and empirical studies of the ‘neurophenomenology’ of human consciousness 7xNeurophenomenology: a methodological remedy for the hard problem. Varela, F.J. J. Conscious. Stud. 1996; 3: 330–350See all References, 8xThe specious present: a neurophenomenology of time consciousness. Varela, F.J. : 266–314See all References.Varela was born on 7 September, 1946 in Chile. As a child and teenager, he received a strong classical education from the German Lyceum in Santiago, which instilled in him a deep and lifelong appreciation of literature, art, philosophy and science. He received his M.Sc. (Licenciatura) in Biology in 1967 from the University of Chile, and his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University in 1970. Although he was offered positions at Harvard and other American universities, he chose to return to Chile in 1970 to help build a scientific research community there. Forced to flee with his family after the military coup of 1973, he taught at the University of Colorado Medical School in Denver until 1978, spent a year at the Brain Research Laboratories of the New York University Medical School in 1979, and then returned to Chile in 1980. In 1986 he moved to Paris, where he was based at the Institut des Neurosciences and at CREA (Centre de Recherche en Epistemologie Applique). In 1988 he was appointed to be Director of Research at CNRS, a position he held until his death.Varela's years in Paris, right up to the month of his passing, were remarkably full and productive by any standard. That he suffered from Hepatitus C from the early 1990s onwards, receiving a liver transplant in 1998, makes his life and work during this time truly inspiring.Varela died calm and at peace, in the loving embrace of his family. He leaves his wife, Amy Cohen Varela, and their son Gabriel; and his former wife Leonor, and their daughters Alejandra and Leonor, and son Javier. He will be deeply missed.

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