Prominent public figure and researcher Alyaksandr Patupa died a sudden death in Minsk on Monday evening at the age of 64.
The exact cause of the death was not immediately known, Alyaksandr Kalinin, chairman of the Belarusian Union of Entrepreneurs (BUE), told BelaPAN.
Dr. Patupa, who chaired the BUE between 2001 and 2007, was born in Sevastopol, Ukraine, on March 21, 1945. He resided in Belarus since 1961. After his graduation from the physics department of Moscow State University with a degree in Nuclear Physics and Quantum Field Theory, he did research at the Physics Institute of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences and at Belarusian State University. He had a doctor’s degree in philosophy and a doctoral candidate’s degree in physics and mathematics.
Being a researcher of futurology, sociology and cosmology, Dr. Patupa was a member of the International Academy of Information Process and Technology, International Academy of Leaders in Business and Administration, the New York Academy of Science, the World Future Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Pen, and the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Between 1989 and 1996, Dr. Patupa was president of Erydan, Belarus’ first private publishing and printing company that he founded.
In 1992, he became president of the Center for Future Studies, which did social research.
Dr. Patupa was a member of the Public Advisory Council under the Presidential Administration, which was established by consent of Alyaksandr Lukashenka in early 2009 for the purpose of discussing fundamental issues concerning the economic and social development of Belarus.
Dr. Patupa was a regular contributor to BelaPAN’s analytical bulletin.
He is survived by wife Lyubow, son Andrey, daughter Alena, grandson Antony, and granddaughter Elyne.
"The death of Alyaksandr Patupa is a great loss to not only the business community but also to all Belarus,"Uladzimir Karahin, chairman of the Minsk Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, told BelaPAN. According to him, he last talked with Dr. Patupa a week ago. "We discussed work on reports to be delivered at the next meeting of the Public Advisory Council and Alyaksandr Syarheyevich was going to report on the penal and correctional system of Belarus," Mr. Karahin said. "His death is a shock to me. He never complained of being ill".
