Pilar Rahola facts for kids
Pilar Rahola i Martínez was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 21, 1958. She is a well-known Spanish journalist, writer, and a former politician.
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About Pilar Rahola
Pilar Rahola studied Spanish and Catalan languages at the Universitat de Barcelona. She has written several books in both Spanish and Catalan. She is a regular writer for the newspaper La Vanguardia in Spain. She has also worked with newspapers in Argentina and the United States. You might often see her on television, and she has given many talks at universities.
Pilar comes from a family with a history of public service and writing. Her relatives include politicians and writers who were important during the time of the Second Spanish Republic. She is married and has three children. Two of her children were adopted, one from Barcelona and another from Siberia.
Her Work as a Journalist
From 1987 to 1990, Pilar Rahola was in charge of a Catalan publishing company called Pòrtic. As a journalist, she reported on many important world events. These included conflicts like the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, the Balkan Wars, and the Gulf War. She also reported on the fall of the Berlin Wall, which was a huge moment in history.
Her Time in Politics
Pilar Rahola also had a career in politics. From 1993 to 2000, she was a member of the Spanish Parliament. She represented the Barcelona area. She also served as the vice-mayor of Barcelona city. During her time in Parliament, she helped with investigations into important issues, like political fairness.
In 1996, Pilar decided to leave her political party to join a new group. After this group did not succeed, she chose to focus more on her work as a journalist and writer.
What She Cares About
Pilar Rahola is very interested in and supports several important causes. She champions women's rights, international human rights, and animal rights. She has also spoken about her strong views regarding Israel and Zionism.
In 2013, a special forest was planted in her honor in Yatir, in the Negev desert. It had 2,500 trees, planted by the Jewish National Fund.
Since 2013, she has been part of a special committee in Catalonia. This committee works towards a vote for self-determination for Catalonia. She is a strong supporter of Catalonia's right to decide its own future and become independent.
Awards and Recognition
Pilar Rahola has received many awards for her work and dedication to human rights and journalism.
- In 2004, she received an honorary doctorate from a university in Santiago de Chile. This was for her efforts in supporting human rights.
- She has received several awards for her work against antisemitism, which is prejudice against Jewish people. These include the Premio Javer Olam (2004) and the Cicla Price (2005).
- In 2006, she became an Honour Member of the University of Tel Aviv. She also received the Golden Menora Price with Simone Weil.
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave her the Scopus Award in 2007.
- She received the APEI Prize for her articles from a Spanish professional association for journalists.
- In 2009, she received the Mass Media Award from the American Jewish Committee for her work on human rights.
- The Anti-Defamation League gave her the Daniel Pearl Award in 2010. This was for her honest and responsible journalism.
- UN Watch awarded her the Morris Abram Human Rights Award in 2011 for her defense of human rights.
- In 2012, she received the Samuel Hadas Award. This award recognized her efforts to build good relationships between Jewish and Spanish people.
- In 2014, the Catalan Police Corps, the Mossos d'Esquadra, honored her with the "Mossa d'Honor" distinction.
- In 2017, she won the Ramon Llull de les Lletres Catalanes prize. This is a very important award in Catalan literature, and she won it for her novel Rosa de Cendra.
See also
In Spanish: Pilar Rahola para niños
