Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga 1915 - 2005

Dr. Julio Iglesias Puga, the father of the singer Julio Iglesias, died Monday in a Madrid hospital. He was 90. The elder Iglesias was a gynecologist, and in his youth was one of the youngest doctors to work for Spain’s state-run health care system. He later founded the Madrid Maternity Clinic and served at the head of its family planning department. Although he was famous because of his relationship to his eldest son Julio, he made headlines of his own when in 1981 he was kidnapped by ETA rebels and held for several weeks. Then, again, he became the topic of much conversation when over sixty years after the birth of his first child, he announced in 2004 that he would be having a child with his second wife Ronna Keit. That news was shocking, but then the couple outdid themselves. Shortly before his death, they announced that they were planning to have their second child in 2006. The official cause of Iglesias’ death is unknown, but Spanish National Radio has announced that it was from a heart attack.