Occupation journalist Role Writer Name Pio Moa | Subject 20th century | |
 | ||
Similar People Cesar Vidal Manzanares, Federico Jimenez Losantos, Luis del Pino, Stanley G Payne, Ricardo de la Cierva | ||
Notable works Myths of the Civil War | ||
Pio moa cita con la historia javier garcia isac 003 la inquisicion
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.
Contents
- Pio moa cita con la historia javier garcia isac 003 la inquisicion
- Po Moa autor de Los mitos de la Guerra Civil 9 4 2014
- Early years as a radical
- Intellectual evolution and writing
- Publications
- References
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 Franco 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 Moa started rescuing the Francoist theses that the parties which formed the Popular Front were ultimately responsible for the Spanish Civil War and the rise of autocracy in Spain. Moa maintains that they have left a legacy of "moral, political and intellectual devastation", accusing the left of hypocrisy in regards to democracy and totalitarianism, as well as claims that the material aid provided by Stalin and the USSR to the Spanish Republic in the Civil War not only prolonged the war causing innumerable deaths but was also 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.
Pío Moa, autor de 'Los mitos de la Guerra Civil'. 9-4-2014
Early years as a radical
Born during 1948 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain, Moa was a charter member of various Marxist-Leninist and Maoist tendency organisations as a youth, including GRAPO, which was the armed wing of the reconstituted Communist Party of Spain. It was involved in violent clashes with the government's Movimiento Nacional. Moa was present at the murder of a policeman on 1 October 1975, carried out after the execution of two ETA and three FRAP members. Two other members of GRAPO, Enrique Cerdán Calixto and Abelardo Collazo Araújo, were also present; Cerdán shot the police officer. Moa was expelled from GRAPO in 1977, he later recalled this period of his life in About a time and a country, the violent Left.
Intellectual evolution and writing
After the Spanish transition to democracy his opinions changed towards increasingly conservative positions. He is an outspoken critic of the Spanish political left which he accuses of being the main cause of the Spanish Civil War.
He has also written essays on feminism, marxism, current Spanish politics and an autobiographical book about his experiences in the terrorist group GRAPO. In his books he criticizes strongly Franco's communist, socialist and nationalist rivals. Moa is rejected as pseudo-historian by several historians, such as Paul Preston, Alberto Reig Tapia, Javier Tusell, Justo Serna, Mercedes Yusta, Santos Juliá or Enrique Moradiellos. While disagreeing with some of Moa's theses, historian Stanley G. Payne has praised the work of Pio Moa.
He has been accused of homophobia by civil rights groups and of being a defender of the Franco's regime. In an interview in 2008 he openly refused to condemn Franco's regime. However, he declares in his books that he does not defend the dictatorship, but rather criticizes his rivals.
He was the editor of the historical journals Tanteos (1988–1990) and Ayeres (1991–1993) and a librarian at the Ateneo de Madrid, a prestigious cultural and literary institute in Madrid, belonging to its board of directors for three years.
He currently writes for online newspapers such as Libertad Digital .