Antonio Brack Egg

Antonio Brack Egg (1940 – 2014) was born in Oxapampa, Pasco (Peru), the son of European immigrants. As a boy he grew up and went to the local primary school -which only had one teacher- with the Yanesha aboriginals of the area. He then migrated to Lima to complete his secondary and higher education, and graduated as a Secondary School Teacher in 1963. After practicing teaching for several years, he traveled to Italy and Germany, where he earned a doctorate in Natural Sciences with specialization in Ecology. He taught at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina and the Universidad Nacional San Andrés de La Paz. He worked as counselor to FAO, OIMT, COTESU, USAID, DSE, GTZ, BID, PNUD and other international organizations. In 2006 he was president of the National Environment Council (CONAM). As Environment Minister of Peru (a post he held from the date that Ministry was established [2008] until July 2011), he began the process of formalizing the informal mining activities in the country. He was one of the promoters of the fight against transgenic products in Peru. As an ecologist and researcher, he specialized in biodiversity matters in the Amazonian area. He published 15 books and more than 200 articles about the environment. During his career he was awarded the Bárbara D’Achille National Environment Prize (1996), the Forestry Merit Price (twice), and a Diploma for his contribution to science and technology, issued by the Congress of Peru.