Brigadier General Pedro García Sipols, His Excellency the Ambassador of Spain to the United States Santiago Cabanas Ansorena, author Natacha Sanz-Caballero and Navy Captain Manuel González Serrano

The Spanish Ministry of Defense awards Spanish-American author this high honor for her work in the dissemination of the naval history of Spain

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, UNITED STATES, April 25, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Author Natacha Sanz-Caballero received the Naval Medal of Honor with White Distinction (a decoration awarded to civilians) at the Defense Attaché to the Embassy of Spain in Washington DC. The solemn ceremony was presided by Defense Attaché, Brigadier General Pedro García Sipols and His Excellency the Ambassador of Spain to the United States, Mr. Santiago Cabanas Ansorena, who conferred the medal to the honoree. Also present at the ceremony earlier this month were Naval Attaché, Captain Manuel González Serrano, representatives from the three branches of the Spanish Army, Embassy staff and the author’s family.

In January, Spain’s Official State Gazette stated that this high honor was awarded to author Natacha Sanz-Caballero by the Spanish Minister of Defense for her work in the dissemination of the naval history of Spain with her book Yo fui el primero and its English version I Was the First. The medal was presented to the author at a special ceremony in April.

“The concrete motivation of the recognition to Natacha Sanz-Caballero is her support of the culture and naval history of Spain, for which the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army nominated her,” General García Sipols said in his speech.

Awarded the official stamp of the Spanish National Committee for the 500th Anniversary of the First Voyage Around the World, in its Spanish version, I Was the First has traveled the world as part of an international educational project sponsored by University CEU Cardenal Herrera and the Spanish Armed Forces of Valencia. Students in schools in Spain, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the Philippines and Equatorial Guinea have learned about Magellan and Elcano‘s first voyage around the world using, among other materials, this action-adventure and historical novel. In the United States, the book is included in the syllabus of the Purdue University Fort Wayne Spanish V Dual Credit class at Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, IN. The teaching program is being presented at a number of conferences. With the novel available now in English, the story of the first voyage around the world is made accessible to the English-speaking student and reader.

The historical, action-adventure novel tells the story of the greatest maritime journey of all time: the first circumnavigation of the earth. The fleet of five ships and 260 sailors under the command of captain Ferdinand Magellan left the port of Seville, Spain, in August 1519. Three years later, one surviving ship under the command of Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano returned to the port of departure. Its 18 emaciated crewmembers had completed the first trip around the world. They overcame mutiny, hunger, tempests and doldrums, boycotts, desertion, battles, disease and death and, against all odds, returned to Seville and made history.

In 2019, Spain embarked on a three-year long celebration of the 500th anniversary of a voyage that forever changed the known world, with immediate repercussions in the geography, cartography, economy, politics and culture of the time. Maps were re-drawn, the known flora and fauna was enriched by new additions from the lands visited, and new commercial routes were established from a trip that is considered not only the start of globalization, but one of the greatest feats of humankind and a turning point for humanity.

About the author: Natacha Sanz-Caballero (Onteniente, Spain) lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she has resided since 1997. Her stories have been published in magazines and anthologies in Spain and the United States. I Was the First is her first novel. She’s also the author of the blog Mama Ía, Cooking Spanish in America, (www.natachasanzcaballero.com) in which she shares the recipes, history, culture and traditions of Spain in the United States.

I Was the First and Yo fui el primero are available through Amazon and local bookstores.
For information about the teaching program in schools, contact the author.

Natacha Sanz-Caballero
Natacha Sanz Caballero
natachasc@comcast.net
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