Pravda

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Pravda

Newspaper

Pravda is a Russian newspaper which is distributed nationwide and which served as the media platform for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1991. Pravda published its first edition in May 1912 and was initially founded as a daily workers newspaper due to it having no distinct political orientation. Later it became an important tool of the Bolshevik movement, with its Editorial Board comprised of prominent Bolshevik members. In 1914, the newspaper was closed by the Tsar due to censorship; however, it constantly reappeared under different names. Following the overthrow of the Tsarist regime, Pravda was able to re-emerge as the official newspaper of the Party. It retained this role until the collapse of  the Communist Party in 1991, when Brosi Yeltsin shut down the Communist Party and all of its property. It was then sold to Greek investors and became a voice for the conservative-nationalist opposition. Due to declining readership, Pravda was shut down temporarily in 1996 before later being purchased by the Communist Party of The Russian Federation, making it again, the official organ of a communist party. It still operates today from Moscow and is published three times weekly.

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Paloma O’Shea

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Paloma O’Shea

Creator of Albeniz Musical Foundation and Reina Sofía Musical School

Paloma O’Shea is the Founder of the Reina Sofía Musical School and the Creator and President of the Albeniz Foundation. Born in Spain in 1936, she began studying piano in 1941 before moving to France in order to further her interest in music. At the age of fifteen her musical talent was recognised and she was awarded the Primer Premio Fin de Carrera and the chance to perform with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. After marrying Emilio Botín, Executive Chairman of Grupo Santander, she chose to dedicate her time to promoting classical music in Spain and as a result she became a patron of the arts. In 1972 she founded the Albeniz Foundation and created the Concurso de Piano de Santander, which is now known as The Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition. It is held every three years in Spain and is organised by the Albeniz Foundation. In 1991, she founded the Queen Sofía College of Music, which is a private music school that has grown to become one of the leading music schools in Spain. Her commitment to the promotion of arts and music in Spain and her initiatives to encourage musical talent have led to Ms O’Shea receiving numerous awards including The Gold Mercury International Award, as well as the Légion d’honneur of France, the Picasso Awards of UNESCO and in 2008 she was given the rank of Marchioness of O’Shea by the King of Spain.

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Pakistan Television Corp

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Pakistan Television Corp

Broadcaster

Pakistan Television Corp is a public and commercial broadcasting television network, as well as a state owned mega-corporation. It was founded in 1964 by an international sector organisation NEC. Its first broadcast was transmitted from a small pilot station in Lahore in November 1964, followed by Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1965, Rawalpindi and Islamabad in 1965 and then Karachi in 1966. In 1971, Pakistan Television, under a nationalisation programme, became government owned. This allowed its network infrastructure to expand all over the country. Whilst originally broadcasting in black and white, colour television was eventually introduced by the network in 1976. In 1987, The Pakistan Television Academy was created in order to educate students who had an interest in working within the television media sector. A full scale satellite broadcasting service was launched in 1991, before digital TV satellite broadcasting was introduced in 1999. Programmes produced by Pakistan Television Corp are varied and include dramas, documentaries, current affairs stories, entertainment and sport. Its programmes are produced in Urdu as well as other regional languages such as Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto and Balochi. The viewer base, in 2012, rose significantly and the network now enjoys a considerable percentage of Pakistani viewership.

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Merawi Sitot

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Merawi Sitot

Ethiopian Musician and Artistic Luminary

Artist Merawi Sitot was born in 1936 in the rural Ethiopian region of Wollo Ambassel. An orchestra that came to town one day had such a profound impact on him that at age 14 he moved to Addis Ababa to pursue a musical career.  Merawi helped set up the Ethiopian National Theatre and managed the National Theatre’s Music Orchestra for 27 years.

Through a long and versatile musical career, he worked with his country across three successive governments as a sax and clarinet player and arranger for more than 43 years, writing and composing music that he toured around the world with fellow musicians including the acclaimed Tilahun. Together with other artists of the “Golden Era” of Ethiopian music, they helped raise awareness and opened up enjoyment of African music to a global audience.

Upon receiving the Gold Mercury International Award for Global Culture in 1985 for his contributions to his country’s culture, he dedicated it to the national theatre, his self-pronounced “second-home”, declaring:

”Though this award is given to me, it is not only mine. It is the output of my friends who have been working so hard with me for the last 43 years […] rather this [the national theater] is the right place for it.”

This year, the ninth edition of the Ethiopian Music Festival held at the National theatre, which is organised by the alliance Ethio-Francaise with the support of various embassies and institutions, was dedicated to Merawi along with Getachew Debalque, another luminary of the Ethiopian musical stage.

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Manuel Cabré

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Manuel Cabré

Hispanic Venezuelan Landscape Painter

Manuel Cabré was a renowned landscape painter. Born in Barcelona in 1890, he moved to Venezuela at a young age. As his father taught sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Caracas, he studied there and became fascinated by the Venezuelan landscape, particularly the El Avila Mountain north of Caracas. He chose to paint it from all angles and shades and as a result he received widespread recognition and praise. He later moved to Paris, living there until 1930, learning the techniques of cubism and impressionism. In 1931 he returned to Venezuela, again committing himself to painting the outdoors. He became known for his extensive skills, technique, colour and form, which were all evident in his paintings. In 1955  he received the National Award in Painting and in 1955 he won the Herrera Toro Award. Between 1942 and 1946, he served as Director of the Caracas Museum of Fine Arts. He continued painting until his death in 1984.

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Luis Garcia Berlanga

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Luis Garcia Berlanga

Film Director and Academy Award Nominee

Luis Garcia Berlanga was a Spanish film director and writer who played a prominent role in the revival of the Spanish film industry. His interest in film was fostered during his legal and literature studies in Madrid. His interest in the subject matter eventually led to him joining the state run film school, The Institute of Cinematographic Investigations and Experiences in 1947. He introduced his work as a director with the 1951 film, ‘That Happy Couple’ before establishing himself with the 1953 comedy, ‘Bienvenido, Mister Marshall’. This film used irony and satire to parody Franco’s regime and the utopia they had seemingly created. The film somehow escaped strict censorship laws but lost out at the Cannes Film Festival for being “anti- American”. In 1961 he directed the Oscar nominated film, ‘Pacido’, and later he achieved more critical success with the film, ‘El Verudi’, which won the Critics’ Choice Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1963. In 1968 he became the head of the judging panel at the Berlin International Film Festival and by the late 1970′s he had re-established himself in the genre of erotic fiction. In 1986 he became the first director to win the Prince of Asturias Award.

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Le Monde

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Le Monde

Newspaper

Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper. It was founded in 1944 by Hubert Beuve-Méry, and has since grown to become the world’s main source of printed French news, with 35,000 copies of the paper being distributed abroad on a weekly basis. It was founded at the request of General De Gaulle following the removal of the German army from Paris in World War Two. The German army had taken over the newspaper Le Temps, which had previously served as the most important French newspaper. Hubert Beuve-Méry’s provision upon being chosen to be Editor in Chief of the newspaper was to have complete editorial independence. The governance of the newspaper is structured collegially, with many journalists, who have tenure with the paper, also being allowed to be financial stakeholders and participate in the elections of senior executives. The paper’s editorial line has often been described as centre-left, with Le Monde backing several Socialist candidates in recent years.

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L’Express

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L’Express

News Magazine

L’Express is a French weekly news magazine. It was founded in 1953 by Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber and Francoise Giroud during the first Indochina War. Its initial aim was to emulate the U.S news magazine, TIME. During its early years, the magazine was centre left in content and supportive of Pierre Mendes-France’s policies in Indochina. It has often courted controversy due to its opposition to France’s war in Algeria and due to such positions it has often been momentarily censored by the French government. From 1964 onwards L’Express became less politically engaged and its circulation rose as a result. L’Express has published many notable journalists over the years, including Raymond Aron, Jean-François Revel and André Gorz. Today L’Express has a large following online and enjoys widespread circulation throughout France.

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Konrad Adenauer Foundation

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Konrad Adenauer Foundation

German Political Party Foundation

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political foundation associated with the Christian Democratic Union. It was established in 1955 as a ‘Society for Christian-Democratic Civic Education’, taking its name from the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. Their programmes are aimed at promoting freedom, liberty, peace and justice across the world. They predominantly focus their efforts on consolidating democracy, unifying Europe and strengthening transatlantic relations. This political basis was constructed through the use of the materials and research documents they acquired whilst acting as a consultant firm and think tank. Similar to other German political foundations, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation is financed mainly through federal and land government funds. Today their headquarters are located in Bonn and they have an additional 78 offices and programmes running in over 100 countries.

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Juan Luis Cebrián

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Juan Luis Cebrián

Journalist, Writer and Academic

Juan Luis Cebrián was presented with the Gold Mercury Award in 1986 for his contribution to Global Culture. Born in Madrid in 1944, Mr Cebrián studied Humanities at the University Complutense, before graduating from the Official School of Journalism in Spain in 1963. He was a founding member of the political magazine, ‘Cuadernos para el Dialogo’ in 1963 and served as Deputy Editor of the ‘Pueblo Daily Newspaper’ from 1963 to 1975. In 1973, Mr Cebrián also became the Head of Information Services of the Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española RTVE, during the last government of the Franco dictatorship. He was the founding Editor of ‘El País’, and served as Director of the publication from 1976 to 1988. Under his leadership, the paper became the best-selling newspaper in Spain. Mr Cebrián was also a writer and author, publishing nineteen books in ten different languages over the course of his career. After becoming a Gold Mercury International Award Laureate, he became the CEO of Prisa Group, as well as the Vice President of the Spanish Society of Broadcasting and Prisa TV.

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