Anna Maria Batalla (Anna Solà Sardans)

Anna Maria Batalla Solà (Vallmoll, 1948) is the daughter of political prisoners. Her mother, Anna Solà Sardans (Manresa, 1918), worked as a civil servant for the Department of Economy and Transport of the Generalitat of Catalonia in Manresa and was a member of the JSU (Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas) and the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores).

Anna Solà was a key figure in establishing the Unió de Dones Antifeixistes and served as Deputy Secretary of the Legal Committee of Socors Roig in the Bages region. She was active in the press and radio, becoming the woman who contributed the most articles—over 24—to the press in Manresa during the Civil War. She was imprisoned in Les Corts, where she remained until 1941, serving a total of two years and five months.

Her father, Josep Batalla Salvat, was a lieutenant in the Republican Army. He was held in the Argelès and Urdunya (Basque Country) camps and sentenced to 30 years in prison, of which he served nearly seven in the Model Prison. Anna and Josep exchanged letters and postcards during their imprisonment, which Anna Maria carefully preserved.

Since 2012, Anna Maria Batalla has been actively involved in the Platform for the Monument to the Women’s Prison of Les Corts. In 2015, she accepted the Medal of Honour of Barcelona on behalf of the group, awarded by the city council for their work. Since 2016, she has contributed as a Wikipedian to spreading knowledge about the biographies of political prisoners, executed individuals, deportees, and other victims of repression.

Since 2009, the historian Conxita Parcerisas Estruch, from the group Memoria.cat, has extensively documented the life of Anna Solà Sardans. Recently, in a public vote, a new square in Manresa was named after her.