Moa Rodríguez, Pío

Autor: Moa Rodríguez, Pío
Rok: 1948-

Biogr./Hist. údaje: Španělský novinář, esejista a historik.
Zdroj: Autoritní databáze Národní knihovny ČR

Luis Pío Moa Rodríguez (Vigo, Galicia, 1948) better known as simply Pío Moa, is a Spanish writer and journalist. His specialised subject field is the history and origins of the Spanish Civil War, the Second Republic in Spain, Francoism and the various political movements of that era, all of which he approaches from a sympathetic perspective. He lacks an academic degree.During his youth, Moa was a radical anti-Francoist agitator. He was a militant of the Communist Party of Spain (and its reconstituted version), as well as the clandestine Maoist, designated-terrorist organisation GRAPO. Following the transition of Spain to democracy, Moa dedicated himself to the study of contemporary Spanish history, evolving over time to a Francoist position.Following the death of the dictator and the reinstatement of a democratic regime in Spain, a slow process of opening of archives and publicizing of Civil War related documents began. In the face of this process —and against the documentary evidence— Moa rescues the theses of Francoist propaganda, such as arguments that the Popular Front were ultimately responsible for the Spanish Civil War and the rise of autocracy in Spain, claiming that they have left a legacy of "moral and political, intellectual devastation", accusing the left of hypocrisy in regards to democracy and totalitarianism, as well as claims that the material aid provided by the USSR to the Spanish Republic in the Civil War was roughly equivalent to the help provided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to General Franco.The polemical and politically incorrect nature of Moa's writings have gained him much public attention in Spain and a measure of controversy as a result; his best-selling book, Myths of the Civil War, with 150,000 units sold, was a best-seller for six consecutive months.