NAMES IN THE NEWS : ‘La Pasionaria,’ 93, Seriously Ill
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MADRID — “La Pasionaria,” the woman whose revolutionary oratory rallied thousands to the Republican cause during Spain’s 1936-39 civil war, is seriously ill with pneumonia, doctors said today.
Dolores Gomez Ibarruri, 93, was taken from her Madrid home to a hospital Wednesday night.
Ibarruri, whose nickname means “passion flower,” was being treated with antibiotics. Doctors said her heart was in good condition.
A former leader of the Spanish Communist Party in exile and a symbol of resistance to Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s 36-year dictatorship, La Pasionaria’s cry of “No Pasaran!” (They shall not pass!) became a rallying call of left-wing groups throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
During the dictatorship, she lived in exile in Moscow. She was given a hero’s welcome on her return to Spain in 1977 when the party was legalized two years after Franco’s death.
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