Pilar Rahola facts for kids
Pilar Rahola i Martínez was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 21, 1958. She is a famous journalist and writer. She also used to be a politician and a member of the Spanish Parliament.
Pilar Rahola's Career
Pilar Rahola studied Spanish and Catalan languages at the Universitat de Barcelona. She has written many books in both Spanish and Catalan. She writes a regular column for the newspaper La Vanguardia in Spain. She has also worked with newspapers in Argentina and the United States. You can often see her on television, and she gives talks at universities.
Her family has a history of being involved in politics and writing. They were known for being against fascism and supporting the republic. Some of her relatives were important politicians or writers. For example, Pere Rahola was a minister, and Carles Rahola was a writer. Pilar Rahola is married and has three children. Two of her children were adopted, one from Barcelona and two from Siberia.
From 1987 to 1990, Pilar Rahola was in charge of a Catalan publishing company called Pòrtic. As a journalist, she reported on many important events around the world. These included the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, the Balkan Wars, the Gulf War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Pilar Rahola in Politics
Pilar Rahola was also a politician for a time. From 1993 to 2000, she was the only member of the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya party in the Spanish Parliament. She represented the Barcelona area. She also served as the vice-mayor of Barcelona city. She took part in special committees that looked into political problems, like the "comisión Roldán."
In 1996, Pilar Rahola left her political party. She joined a new group called the "Partit per la Independència." However, this new party did not succeed. After that, she decided to focus on her work as a journalist and writer. She is very interested in topics like women's rights, human rights around the world, and animal rights. She has also spoken about her views on Israel and Zionism.
In 2013, the Jewish National Fund planted a forest in her honor. They planted 2,500 trees in Yatir, in the Negev region.
Since 2013, she has been a member of Catalonia's National Transition Committee. This is an official group of the Catalan government. They work towards a vote for Catalonia to decide its own future. Pilar Rahola strongly supports Catalonia's right to decide if it wants to be independent.
Awards and Honors
Pilar Rahola has received many awards for her work and her efforts to support human rights.
- Doctor honoris causa (2004): She received this special degree from the Universidad de Artes y Ciencias de la Comunicación in Santiago de Chile. It was given to her for her work in defending human rights.
- Premio Javer Olam (2004): The Jewish Chilean Community gave her this award for fighting against antisemitism (hatred towards Jewish people).
- Cicla Price (2005): She received this award for her continued fight against antisemitism.
- Honour Member of University of Tel Aviv (2006): She was made an honorary member of Tel Aviv University.
- Golden Menora Price (2006): She shared this award with Simone Weil. It was given by the French B'nai B'rith.
- Scopus Award laureate (2007): The Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave her this award.
- APEI Prize (2007): This award was given by a Spanish professional association for her newspaper articles.
- Honoured guest at the AIPAC's Policy Conference (2008): She was a special guest at this important conference.
- Senador Angel Pulido (2009): This award was given by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain.
- Mass Media Award (2009): The American Jewish Committee gave her this award for her work in fighting for human rights.
- Daniel Pearl Award (2010): The Anti-Defamation League gave her this award. It was for her strong commitment to honest journalism and for speaking truthfully to the public.
- Morris Abram Human Rights Award (2011): UN Watch gave her this award in Geneva for her defense of human rights.
- Samuel Hadas Award (2012): She received this award along with other important figures like Felipe Gonzalez and José Maria Aznar. The Israeli Embassy gave it for working to build good relationships between Jewish and Spanish people.
- In 2013, the Jewish National Fund planted a forest with 2,500 trees in her honor in Yatir, in the Negev.
- In 2014, the Catalan Police Corps, known as the Mossos d'Esquadra, gave her the special "Mossa d'Honor" award. She also received a distinction from the Forum Carlemany, a group of Catalan business people.
- In 2017, she won the Ramon Llull de les Lletres Catalanes prize. This is the most important award in Catalan literature. She won it for her novel Rosa de Cendra.
See also
In Spanish: Pilar Rahola para niños
