Enrique Sarasola Lerchundi (24 August 1937 – 2 November 2002) was a Spanish

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

, a major figure in his country's transition to democracy, and an owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses. A native of San Sebastian, Spain, at age twenty, Sarasola emigrated to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

as an

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

or with Price Waterhouse. He married Cecilia Marulanda, from a wealthy family, and eventually went into business for himself. Highly successful, in 1970 he returned to his native Spain where he became active in politics. Working behind the scenes where political opposition was suppressed by the government of General Franco, Sarasola used his wealth to help the then illegal Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) headed by Felipe Gonzalez. After Gonzalez was elected Prime Minister of the Spanish government in 1982, Enrique Sarasola became a powerful figure during Gonzalez' fourteen years in office. However, he would come under much criticism and be involved in court battles over charges of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

and

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

. Enrique Sarasola owned a number of successful racehorses, the best known of which was Helissio, winner of the 1996 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and European Horse of the Year. From 1992 until its closure in 1996, Sarasola was the owner of Hipodromo de la Zarzuela race track, just west of Madrid. After a long illness, Enrique Sarasola died at age 65 in 2002 in a Madrid hospital and was interred in the La Paz-Alcobendas cemetery in Madrid. His son, Enrique Sarasola Jr., is a world class equestrian competitor who has represented Spain in the 1998 Eventing World Championship and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. His relative

Javier Moll Javier Moll (born in 1950) is a Spanish businessman and owner of the Barcelona-based media company Editorial Prensa Ibérica. In 2007 his company owned over 20 newspapers in Spain and Portugal. He currently owns assets in South Australia, includin ...

is a notable media mogul.

References

1937 births 2002 deaths Corruption in Colombia Owners of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners 20th-century Spanish businesspeople Spanish racehorse owners and breeders {{Spain-business-bio-stub

See also

References