Philosophy Professor Victòria Camps awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi
The Government of Catalonia has awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi to Professor Victòria Camps, now retired, from the Department of Philosophy of the UAB. The award is given for "her intellectual career and commitment to ethical and civic thought", as well as for her "decisive contribution" to public reflection on civic responsibility, bioethics and democratic quality. Another Creu de Sant Jordi will be awarded to Ramon Alberch, founder and first director of the School of Archiving and Document Management (ESAGED-UAB).
Victòria Camps earned her degree in Philosophy from the UB and received her PhD also in Philosophy from the UAB, where she became professor of Moral and Political Philosophy in 1985. She held two stays at the Hastings Center and at the University of Chicago. In 1972 she began teaching at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and was also vice-rector for International Relations between 1990 and 1993. In 2011, she received the "Amic dels Amics" award from the Association of Friends of the UAB.
She was member of the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia and senator from 1993 to 1996 for the PSC. She chaired the Fundación Alternativas between 1996 and 2001. She is currently president of the Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation and the Bioethics Committee of Spain, as well as member of the Bioethics Committee of Catalonia. In 2014, she was invested honoris causa by the University of Huelva.
She is the author of numerous publications, mainly on ethics, and has received distinctions such as the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, the Josep Maria Lladó Prize for Freedom of Expression, the Award for Merit in Education from the Junta de Andalucía, the Josep Trueta Medal for Health Merit and the National Essay Prize for El gobierno de las emociones. Among her most outstanding works are Virtudes públicas (Espasa Essay Prize), El siglo de las mujeres, Una vida de calidad, La voluntad de vivir, Creer en la educación i El declive de la ciudadanía.
Ramon Alberch will be awarded "for his career in the field of archival science, documentary heritage and democratic memory, and for his decisive contribution to the modernisation and international projection of the Catalan archival model."
The Creu de Sant Jordi is one of the highest awards granted by the Catalan government. It was created in 1981 to distinguish people and entities "who, through their merits, have provided outstanding services to Catalonia."