Professor Javier S Herrero

Javier Saura Herrero was born in Murcia, Spain on August 12th, 1926. On April 1st, 2023, at the age of 96, that life came to a close at his home in Charlottesville, Virginia, surrounded by his children.

During that near centenarian span, Javier was much beloved as a husband, father, grandfather, professor, colleague and friend. His academic brilliance and enthusiasm in the classroom left generations of students enthralled by the adventures of Don Quijote, the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca and Spanish reactionary ideology, among others. Javier was also awarded numerous distinctions for his life’s work, including receipt of La Cruz de La Orden de Isabela Catolica and election as President of the Cervantes Association of America. His greatest academic joy and delight however, he found teaching at the University of Virginia. In 1979 he became the chairman of the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. He would be instrumental, over the next decade, in transforming the department into one of the best in the nation.

Javier will be remembered by many as a cheerful, friendly and generous man. Whether helping a graduate student with a dissertation or chatting over a glass of wine with a handful of colleagues. Javier was also a sublime, humorous raconteur, endowed with an extraordinary memory and a genuinely interested ear. He will live on, in the mind and memory of many.

Javier was predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Merche. Survivors include his son Alberto(Angela); his two daughters, Mercedes and Matilde(Peter Friedenberg) and his two grandsons, Rafa and Javi.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlottesville on April 15th, Saturday at 11:00 am, with a reception to follow at the residence of Professors Opere/Douglas at 25 University Circle, Charlottesville, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contribution may be made to the Covenant House New York