Very sad news! I remember Manuel from several meetings, starting with a PhD defence (Javier Esparza) in Zaragoza, and continuing all through our careers. I remember all those Spanish guys sitting around a table after the defence, eating very nice Spanish food (grilled tomatoes and so on) and Manuel happily joking amongst them. We then met various times during the Basic Research projects DEMON and CALIBAN where I learned about the very nice Spanish work on linear algebra, traps, and all the rest of it, which was influenced very much by Manuel, if not even initiated by him. I also admire very much his ability to attract a bunch of excellent students, many of whom are now in senior positions. I also remember fondly his lectures given in English, some on "passing messages", which sometimes sounded like "passing massages" to my ears. It is only a week ago that I re-read parts of his TCS paper of 1997 because I wanted to know what exactly was the statement there about the realisability of (minimal) T-invariants. Unfortunately now, Manuel must be, and is, sadly missed. My condolences go to his family and to those nearest to him.
Sincere condolences
Very sad news! I remember Manuel from several meetings, starting with a PhD defence (Javier Esparza) in Zaragoza, and continuing all through our careers. I remember all those Spanish guys sitting around a table after the defence, eating very nice Spanish food (grilled tomatoes and so on) and Manuel happily joking amongst them. We then met various times during the Basic Research projects DEMON and CALIBAN where I learned about the very nice Spanish work on linear algebra, traps, and all the rest of it, which was influenced very much by Manuel, if not even initiated by him. I also admire very much his ability to attract a bunch of excellent students, many of whom are now in senior positions. I also remember fondly his lectures given in English, some on "passing messages", which sometimes sounded like "passing massages" to my ears. It is only a week ago that I re-read parts of his TCS paper of 1997 because I wanted to know what exactly was the statement there about the realisability of (minimal) T-invariants. Unfortunately now, Manuel must be, and is, sadly missed. My condolences go to his family and to those nearest to him.