Vilma Ripoll

Vilma Ripoll (born April 12, 1954) is an Argentine nurse and politician.

Life and times

Vilma Ana Ripoll was born in Firmat, Santa Fe Province, in 1954. She enrolled at the National University of Rosario School of Medicine, and earned a degree in nursing in 1975; while a student, in 1973, Ripoll co-founded the Centro de Estudiantes de Enfermería (Nursing Student Center). Ripoll helped organize a relief mission for workers at an Acindar steel plant in Villa Constitución whose health benefits had been cut in retaliation for their electing a left-wing shop steward. She then later joined the Trotskyite Socialist Workers' Party. These activities made her a target during the subsequent Dirty War, however, and in 1977, she left her post at the government health service, PAMI, and sought refuge in Colombia.

She continued her support for labor unions while in Colombia, and co-founded the Health Workers' Union (SUTS). She returned to Argentina following the return to democratic rule in 1983, and from 1989 to 1999, served as shop steward of the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires employees union, during which tenure she was elected to the Health Workers' Federation (FATSA) congress. Ripoll ran against the union's director, West Ocampo, for the post, but was defeated.

Ripoll

Ripoll (Catalan pronunciation: [riˈpoʎ]) is the capital of the comarca of Ripollès, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on confluence of the Ter River and its tributary Freser, next to the Pyrenees near the French border. The population was 11,057 in 2009.

The first traces of humans inhabiting the area date from the Bronze Age and can be seen in form of dolmens such as those found in El Sot de Dones Mortes or in Pardinella. This area was later used by peoples from the Atlantic culture to store bronze weapons and as a passway from the Catalan Central Depression to the Pyrenees. The area also has tombs from the late Roman occupation age and some belonging to the Visigoths.

It has a famous Benedictine monastery built in the Romanesque style, Santa Maria de Ripoll, founded by the count Wilfred the Hairy in 879. The count used it as a centre to repopulate the region after conquering it. In the High Middle Ages, its castle, the Castle of Saguardia, located in the county of Les Llosses was ruled by the Saguàrdia family, of which Ponç de la Guàrdia was a famous troubadour.

Ripoll (river)

The Ripoll is a river in the comarca of Vallès Occidental, Catalonia, Spain. It covers the vast majority of the shire, crossing it from north to south, and flows into the river Besòs, near Barcelona.

Geography

The source of the river is located in the Serra de Granera, at 640 metres (2,100 ft) of elevation, and it discharges in Montcada i Reixac, at 35.5 metres (116 ft). It has a length of 39.5 kilometres (24.5 mi), with a total of 181.5 kilometres (112.8 mi), once its tributaries are included. It covers the vast majority of the comarca of Vallès Occidental, passing through the municipalities of Sant Llorenç Savall, Castellar del Vallès, Sabadell, Barberà del Vallès, Ripollet and Montcada i Reixac. Throughout the comarca, it crosses alluvial clay terrains, which erodes easily, causing the river to carve a deep path into the soil.

History

Throughout its history, the river was used by the inhabitants of the surrounding area for irrigation. Irrigation has been in place from at least the mid-10th century, when priests of Sant Llorenç built an irrigation system that is still used to work the orchards along the riverside and mills to produce flour.

Ripoll (disambiguation)

Ripoll is the capital of the comarca of Ripollès.

Ripoll may also refer to: