A Biography by Núria Sans

                                                        A Biography: Rigoberta Menchú

Rigoberta Menchú, one of the most influential women in South America, was born on January 9, 1959 in a poor indegenous family of the K'iche'ethnic group in Laj Chimel, Guatemala. Menchú worked as a child in the field like her parents and received a primary-school education in several Catholic boarding. Since childhood she knew injustice, discrimination and exploitation at which Indians of Guatemala, who lived in extreme poverty, were subjected.

Her adolescence was marked by the death of her brother, her father and her mother by the army of the country. After that,she worked as an activist campaigning against human right violations committed by the Guatemalan armed forces during the country's civil war, which lasted from 1960 to 1996. She is algo know for her struggle for the situation od indiginuos women in Latin America. She was exiled in Mexico to escape from repression. Soon afterwards she wrote her first book about her biography, called " Me llamo Rigoberta Menchú y así me nació la conciencia" ( My name is Rigoberta Menchú and this is how my conscience was born)

Actually, she is 56 years old and she lives in Guatemala again. The latest biographical data I want to mention is that she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for being the voice of indiegenous people. What I admire most about her is her willpower, her courage and her ability to overcome, and that has even more valuable in a place where the woman is undervalued.

                                                                                                                               Núria Sans Hermoso

A biography by Tània Faura

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was born, 24 June 1987, in Rosario, Argentina to a working class family.
His father was a factory steel worker, and his mother a cleaner.

He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). This was a condition that stunded growth, and required expensive medical treatment, including the use of the drug Human growth hormone.

Local Club, River Plate was interested in signing Messi, but didn't want to pay for his medical treatment. However, Messi was given a trial with Barcelona, and Carles Rexach was impressed-offering Messi a contract which included paying for Messi's treatment in Spain.
Messi moved to Barcelona with his father and became part of the prestigious FC Barcelona youth academy. What I admire most about him is his fighting spirit and his sacrifice to football.

A biography by Guillem Roset

STEVE ANGELLO

The world-famous DJ and producer Steve Angello was born in Athens, Greece in 1982. As a child, Angello left Greece and he moved to Stockholm, Sweden with her mother and his brother because his father died. In Sweden, he met Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell, which Angello decided to found the SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA few years later.

Angello claim to fame came when he realeased his remix of Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" in 2004. Since then, he has established himself in the House Music scene with such tracks as "Knas", "Rave n' Roll" and "Yeah". In 2009, the SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA, which is composed by him, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell, have produced hits as "Leave the World Behind", "Save the World", "Antidote", "One", "Greyhound", "Don't You Worry Child", "Miami 2 Ibiza" until 2012. 

Nowadays, he is married to Swedish model Isabel Adrian and they have two daugthers. Moreover, he is working on his first solo album, called "WILD YOUTH". The realease date is not anounced yet. Steve Angello, completely stirred up the Electronic Music scene when he was a member of the SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA. But what I admire the most about him is his dedication that he has with music.

A biography by Simona Atanasova

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong, the only man who has won 7 times the Tour de France, was born in Texas on 8 september 1971 and he had a quiet common childhood. The most important event of his childhood is that his father left, so he was brought up by his mother.

In his early-twenties, he became professional cyclist. in 1996, he had a cancer diagnosis and he was given a 40% chance of survival. Then, he wetted up a cancer charity called Lance Armstrong Foundation. Finally, in 1998, he was recovered and he joined the US postal team.

When he was 28 (in 1996) he started cycling in the Tour de France and by 2005 he has won 7 titles (he was the first one). In 2005 he retired from cycling because his titles had been taken for doping charges.

Today he lives in Texas and in Girona, Catalunya. His Lance Armstrong Foundation has already raised 50 million dollars.

A biography by Alba Carbonell

A biography

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer born in the 19^th of January, 1809, in Boston (Massachusetts), USA. He composed poetry, novels and short stories, especially known for his fantastic and horror literature.  He is considered the father of psychological terror tale and the gothic novel. When he was two years old, his father abandoned Poe’s mother, who was pregnant. When his sister Rosalie was born, they moved to Richmond, Virginia, to some relatives’ house. Not long after, his mother died and Poe was adopted by a married couple from whom he got his family name ‘Allan’.

When he was in his teens, he started to have problems with alcohol, often due to his constant fighting with his stepfather.  He wrote his two first poetry books, Tamerlane and other poems (1827) and Al Aaraf, Tamerlane and minor poems (1829). In 1832 he first got one of histales published by the Baltimore magazine. In 1834 he married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, of only 13. During that time, he was the director of some important publications from Richmond, Boston and Philadelphia. He also lived in New York, with his wife ill from tuberculosis, where he published his most renowned poem, The raven (1845).

His wife’s death had a strong impact on him, and he returned to alcoholism and depression. He is thought to have died victim of delirium tremens, an alcohol withdrawal syndrome, in Baltimore the 7^th of October of 1849. Some of his poems were published after his death.

I personally admire him because of his writing style and especially his poems; they are always dark and full of mysteries, and I found this very exciting. The first poem I read of his was The raven.

A biography by Vasilena Georgieva

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie, is a very famous American actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California on 4 June 1975, and had a difficult childhood after her parents separation in 1976, and a complicated adolescence. In school where Jolie attended, she felt isolated among the children, and then she started acting at a young age. Jolie later attended New York Univeristy.

In this mid-twenties, Jolie acted in the film ''George Wallace'' and ''GIA'', and Jolie's career prospected and she won a Golden Globe Award, soon afterwards she was nominated for an Emmy Award. After played a starring role in the film ''GIA'' she moved to New York and she stopped acting for a short time. She finally resumed her career and she has continued to take on a variety of interesting roles in the films: ''Hell's kitchen'', ''Playing by heart'', ''Mr. and Mrs. Smith'' and others.

She married to Brad Pitt and she was travelling the world to draw attention to global issues. What I admire most about her is that she is a very successful woman and she helps many people to obtain aid for refugees in Cambodia, Darfur and Jordan; no matter she is known all over the world she has a good heart.

A Biography by Carla Gaya

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi was born in Porbandar on 2 October 1869. He was son of the first minister of Porbandar. Their mopther influenced him in her childhood very much, when she taught him not to hit any person and tolerate the other religions.

In his fiffties he was a politic activist. He defended the India independence and the no violence. In 1894 he founded the "Partido Indio del Congreso de Natal" to bind the Indian cmmunity in Southafrica and denounce the rights of indians. Gandhi encouraged Indians to challenge. without violence, the laws taht damaged them. For this he went to the prison some times.

During the Second World War, he intensified the demand of India independence. The British arrested him in 1942 and retained him for two years.

After achieving India independence, he ordered to suspend the fighting.

On 30 January 1948, when he went to a reunion for praying, he was murdered, in Nueva Delhi, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu radical.

What I admire most about him is his fighting spirit and his big values and principles that led him to fight for the rights of the black race and for the India independence.

A biography by Maite Bernaus

Marie Curie, an important physical and chemical, was the youngest of 5 children and was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She was brought up in a poor but well educated family. At an early age she took an interest in Chemistry and Biology but she was limited for further study in Poland.

In his mid-teens she went to Paris, where she was able to study and got a degree in Physics and later in Maths. Some years later she met and marry whit Pierre Curie, who had got a laboratory of Physics and Chemistry. In 1898, they discovered two new elements, polonium and radium.

In 1903 she won a Nobel Prize of physics and eight years later of Chemistry for the discovery of actinium and further studies on radium. So she became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the fist person to win two in multiple science. Marie Curie died in 1934 from cancer due to the effects of the radiation. What I admire most about her is her desire to investigate and her strain to be one of the first women to excelled in the research camp.

A Biography by Júlia Domènech

The person I most admire: Mireia Belmonte.

Mireia Belmonte García, the Spanish swimmer, who has won more medals in international competition, was born in Badalona on 10 November 1990. She started swimming in “Club Natació Badalona¨ when she was 4 years old for a medical advice to correct her scoliosis.

In 2003, Mireia Belmonte got a scholarship from the Catalan Swimming Federation to train at the High Performance Center of Sant Cugat del Vallés. The 2008/09 season she signed to “Club Natació Sabadell”.

In 2012, she competed in the Olympic Games in London where she won two silver medals in 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle. Currently, she combines her studies with sport. What I most admire about het is her strength of will and her persistence.

A Biography by Sergi Gibert

The person I most admire: Ronaldo “Gaúcho”. 

Ronaldo de Assis Moreira was born in Porto Alegre on 21 March 1980, commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Mexican club Querétaro. His main playing position is as an attacking midfielder or forward. He won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2004 and 2005. Ronaldinho is regarded to be one of the best players of his generation.

In his mid-twenties Ronaldinho has played 97 matches and scored 33 goals for the Brazil national football team. He was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning team, starring alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo in an attacking trio, and was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team.

At club level, prior to his move to Querétaro, Ronaldinho played for Grêmio, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Milan, Flamengo, and Atlético Mineiro. One of greatest achievements was with Barcelona, he won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 and soon afterwards, the UEFA Champions League in 2006. He became a Catalan citizen in January 2007. Ronaldinho was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the world's greatest living players compiled by Pelé, and to the FIFPro World XI from 2005–2007.

A biography by Júlia Quintillà

BIOGRAPHY: Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is a famous professional cyclist who was born in Texas, USA, on 8th September 1971. He was brought up by his mother as his father left when he was a child. At the age of 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete and in 1992 he started his career as a professional cyclist.

In 1996, Armstrong had been diagnosted with testicular cancer and it was going spread throug all his body. Armstrong was given 40% chance of survival. Then he set up a cancer charity called Lance Armstrong Fundation. He was recovered in 1998 and he joined US postal team. After it, he won the Tour de France and he is the first cyclist to win 7 titles in the following years. But, in 2005 he retired from cycling. Later, in 2009 he returned to the world of cycling but his career finally ended in 2012 when he was accused of doping by the USADA and the UCI withdrew all his titles from 1998.

Nowadays he lives in Texas and Girona, Catalunya. His Lance Armstrong Fundation has raised $50 million. What I admire most about him is his strong desire to live and keep doing what he really love.

A biography by Laura Rodríguez

Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne d'Arc, the first heroine who took part in the 100 years' war. She was born in Domremy(France) in 1412 and she had a difficult childhood because France was involved in a big war called the war of the 100 years.

When she was 13, she saw three saints: Mickel, Catherine and Margaret who told her to live in a good and helpful way. A few years later, she was called by God to command the French army.

Years after, when the French king was in Chinon, Jeanne decided to visit him and told him that she wanted to command the army. Eventhough he first denied it, he offered her 5000 men to fight against the British and she won lots of fights.

Before going back home, she decided to fight once more but she was captured and was condemned for witch craft and she was burned in a bonfire. 

What I admire most about her is her fighting spirit; she was strong, she was a fighter and she was a wonderful woman who sacrified her freedom to defend her nation.

A biography, by Oana Mosutiu

Ed Sheeran is a famous singer and songwriter. He was born on February 1991 in Halifax, England. He spent his childhood sorrounded by instruments and music. He started playing the guitar and showed an early promise as a musical talent. At the age of 11 he met Damien Rice, who told him to write his own music. Soon afterwards he did so, following Rice's advice.

In his mid teens, he left his house and headed to London with his guitar and a backpack full of clothes to fulfill his dream of being a successful singer. Throughout his time there, he released two albums and began opening for established acts. In 2009 he was playing more than 300 liveshows. A year later, he posted a video online and attracted Example's attention, a rapper, who asked him to go on the road with him as his opening act.

The same year, 2010, he headed to the U.S. There, Jamie Foxx asked Ed to appear on his Sirius radio show. Soon after, in January 2011, he reached No. 2 in Itunes chart without any promotion and signed on with Atlantic Records the same month. With Atlantic, Sheeran released his most successful album, "+", an instant hit. Soon afterwards, he began co-writing songs with bigger artists, such as One Direction and Taylor Swift. In 2014, his son "I see fire" was featured in the movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of the Smoug", and in June 2014, his next album, "X", appeared and reached No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. What I admire most about him is that he started from the bottom and became one of the greatest artists from our times.

Welcome to 2nd Year Batxillerat Students

You are going to upload your essays, writing the title of the essay in bigger size and in bold and the body of the composition in regular size.

In the box Entrada you have to write the type of essay + the name of the author. Ex. A Formal Letter by Joan Serra

In the box Etiquetas you will find these labels that you have to add to your essay depending on the type of writing:

1. Profile Internet Pen Pals
2. An email
3. An informal Letter
4. A description
5. Describing a person
6. A Formal Letter
7. A Complaint letter
8. A for and against essay / A discussion essay
9. A topic essay / An opinion essay
10. A narrative
11. A Biography
12. An interview / A dialogue
13. A Curriculum Vitae
14. A review / A news report essay
15. A Blog
16. A Summary