Generalitat de Catalunya

(Frontignan, 1906 - Sant Palais, 2003) French historian. He was a fellow student of Sartre and a disciple of Labrousse, concerned about the methodology of history. He was a teacher at the Lycée Francais in Barcelona for 20 years and wrote his doctoral thesis on Catalonia's situation within Spain in the sixties. In 1979, Pierre Vilar was nominated as a doctor honoris causa by the University of Barcelona and received the Ramon Llull Award in 1987 from the Congressional Council on Catalan Culture. He was also awarded the Creu de l'Ordre Civil d'Alfons X el Savi.
Decree (DOGC 3104 of 22 March 2000)
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(Cervera, 1920 - Sant Cugat del Vallès, 2008) Attorney, historian and politician. A lawyer specialising in the defence of those repressed under Francoism, he was presented with the Joan Maragall Award from the Institute of Catalan Studies. He fought against the Franco reign and was one of the promoters of the magazine Serra d'or. He was a deputy of the PSUC until 1984, when he left the seat to take over as the Director of the Catalan Centre of Contemporary History. As an historian, he specialises in 19^th and 20^th-century Catalonia. He also received the Prize of Honour of Catalan Letters in 1996.
Decree (DOGC 3124 of 19 April 2000)
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(Ribes de Freser, 1921 - Barcelona, 2010) Philologist, critic and pedagogue. He studied classical philosophy and was a professor of Catalan at the University of Liverpool. He has written literary reviews in the magazines Ariel and Serra d'Or and in the newspaper Avui. He was presented with the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1982 and the Prize of Honour of Catalan Letters in 1992. He is the president of the Permanent Catalan Council of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

Decree (DOGC 3436 of 23 July 2001)
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Designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it is one of the most representative buildings of Catalan Modernism and has been Patrimony of Humanity since 1997. Construction finished in 1930 and was baptised with the name of its sponsor, the banker Pau Gil. The whole occupies nine blocks of the Eixample and 27 pavilions. It is a private charitable foundation, ascribed with the Health Care Consortium of Barcelona and part of the Public Use Hospital Network (XHUP).
Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau de Barcelona
Decree (DOGC 3471 of 12 September 2001)
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(Barcelona, 1924) Politician and philologist. Catalan lecturer at the University of Liverpool and director of the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana from 1965 to 1971. He was a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, from where he was removed during Francoism. In 1984 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi. He was the president of the Catalan Republican Left from 1996 to 2004.

Decree (DOGC 3541 of 27 December 2001)
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(Barcelona, 1926) Literary critic, essayist and editor. Theorist and defender in Catalonia of historic realism and later of structuralism. He founded and presided over the Association of Writers in the Catalan Language. His works that merit special mention are the anthology Poesia catalana del segle XX (Catalan Poetry of the 20th Century) and his autobiographical book Els escenaris de la memòria (The Stages of Memory). He has received the Josep Pla Award, the Gold Letter and the Creu de Sant Jordi.
Decree (DOGC 3805 of 22 January 2003)
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(Casas Altas, València, 1925 - Barcelona, 2007) Writer and journalist. Despite hailing from Valencia, he immigrated to Catalonia with his parents and lived in the barracks of Montjuïc. His works are dedicated to the migratory wave towards the Barcelona metropolitan area in the middle of the 20^th century. He received the Creu de Sant Jordi in 2003. One of his most famous works is Els altres Catalans (The Other Catalans).
Paco Candel Foundation
Decree (DOGC 3937 of 31 July 2003)
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(Barcelona, 1919 - 2004) Limnologist and ecologist. Doctorate in Natural Sciences, he created the Ecology Department at the University of Barcelona and was the first ecology professor in Spain. He specialised in marine plankton and continental waters. He was a researcher at the High Centre for Scientific Research and the director of the same institute in Barcelona. In 2004, the Generalitat of Catalonia created the Ramon Margalef Award for Ecology and Environmental Sciences.
Ramon Margalef Award for Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Decree (DOGC 2967 of 15 September 2003)
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(Barcelona, 1930) Writer and professor. Holding a degree in Romanic Philology, he devoted his time to the study of medieval literature, changing to contemporary literature at the end of the sixties. He won the Serra d'Or Critics' Award for La literatura catalana d'avantguarda, 1916-1938 (Catalan Avant-garde Literature 1916-1938) and in 1999 received the Creu de Sant Jordi.
Decree (DOGC 3979 of 2 October 2003)
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(Taradell, 1934) Historian. He did ecclesiastical studies, receiving a Doctorate in Ecclesiastical History from the Catholic University of Leuven. He held the post as general director of artistic patrimony. In 1994 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi and became a member of the Royal Academy of Good Letters. He is currently the rector of the Parish of Sant Quirze Safaja (Vallès Oriental) and a lecturer in ecclesiastical history at the High Institute of Religious Sciences in Barcelona.
Decree (DOGC 3996 of 27 October 2003)
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(Lleida, 1923 - Barcelona, 2004) Biochemist. With a degree in Chemistry, he emigrated to the United States, where he was hired as a professor at the University of Houston and worked on different projects with NASA. When he returned to Catalonia, he collaborated on energy development plans and studying alternative energy sources. His studies have been essential to understanding the origin of life on our planet. He also received the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1991.
Fundació Joan Oró
Decree (DOGC 4151 of 10 June 2004)
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(Barcelona 1927 - 2004) Politician. He founded the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) in 1978. He was a candidate to the presidency of the Generalitat in 1980 and in 1982 was appointed as the Spanish ambassador in France. Subsequently, he was the president of the Catalan Parliament between 1995 and 1999. He was awarded the Gold Medal 11 months after his death.

Decree (DOGC 4291 of 30 December 2004)
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A financial organisation that was founded in 1904 under the name of the Caixa de Pensions per a la Vellesa i d'Estalvis thanks to a group initiative. Until the outbreak of the Civil War, it was the Catalan and Balearics agent for obligatory social insurance. During Francoism, it was seized. In 1990 it merged with the former Caixa d'Estalvis Mont de Pietat de Barcelona. It is the third largest financial entity in Spain and the largest in Catalonia.
La Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona
Decree (DOGC 4291 of 30 December 2004)
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(Tauste, 1914 - Barcelona, 2007) Politician. Socialist militant since the twenties, he participated in the unification process of the Socialist Youth of Catalonia. During Francoism, he was arrested and tortured. Thanks to international solidarity, he managed to dodge the death penalty and was expelled from Spain. He was the president of the PSUC and a deputy for Barcelona. He is also the father of writer Sergi Pàmies.
Decree (DOGC 4479 of 29 September 2005)
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(Premià de Mar, 1929 - Terrasa, 2006) Politician. Known as El Guti, Antoni Gutiérrez was a paediatrician by study, although he held posts as a member of the PSUC, Euro MP and vice-president of the European Parliament. He was a councillor in Tarradellas' provisional Generalitat and participated in the drawing up of the Statute of Sau. He died three days after being awarded the medal.

Decree (DOGC 2734 of 5 October 2006)
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(Barcelona, 1930) Politician. President of the Generalitat de Catalunya for 23 uninterrupted years (1980-2003), CDC president since 1974 and president of the CiU since November 2004. A Doctor in Medicine, he has been one of the most influential figures in the fight for democracy and the defence of Catalan language, culture and identity.
Jordi Pujol Centre of Studies
Decree (DOGC 4963 of 6 September 2007)
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(Barcelona, 1941) Politician. Mayor of Barcelona and President of the Generalitat between 2003 and 2006. Nephew of the poet Joan Maragall. He has a degree in Law and Economic Sciences, starting his political activities at the Barcelona City Council until becoming mayor in 1982. This period was marked by the 1992 Olympic Games. In 2003 he obtained the presidency of the Generalitat thanks to the Tinell Agreement. He renounced the presidency of the PSC in 2007.
Pasqual Maragall Website
Decree (DOGC 4963 of 6 September 2007)
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(Barcelona, 1930) Actress. Montserrat Carulla i Ventura is one of the leading Catalan actresses both in the field of theatre performance and in cinema and television. In 1995 she was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Cross Award) and in 1999 the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit.
Decree DOGC (Catalan official government gazette) number 5211, dated 8 September 2008)
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(Barcelona, 1908) Doctor. Moisès Broggi has dedicated his entire life to medicine, even in adverse conditions when Franco's Summary Tribunals banned him from entering any hospital because of his participation in the war. Always interested in culture and humanism, in 1981 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi (Saint George's Cross Award) and this year he has been also been awarded the National Culture Prize.
Decree (DOGC (Catalan official government gazette) number 5211, dated 8 September 2008)
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The Mexican people have been awarded for the generosity, courage and fraternity in welcoming Republican exile. Seventy years after Republican exile began, the Government of Catalonia shows its great appreciation and admiration for the people of Mexico due to their exceptional generosity, courage and fraternity which made it possible for the Catalan nation to persist with dignity.
Decree (DOGC (Catalan official government gazette) number 5457, dated 3rd September 2009)
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The Fire Department of the Generalitat will receive the award due to the vocation, dedication and generation to serve the people, which is what has enabled emergencies, in better or worse circumstances, to be resolved in a technically competent manner, while having the human warmth required for the victims of an accident.
Decree (DOGC (Catalan official government gazette) number 5457, dated 3rd September 2009)
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