Sofia Imber ^People

Imber founded the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas, which possesses about four thousand pieces, the largest contemporary art collection in Latin America. Imber was the only female recipient of the Premio Nacional de Periodismo de Venezuela (National Journalism Prize of Venezuela). She also received the PremioNacional de Artes Plásticas de Venezuela for her work in advancing the creative pro- cess in Venezuela. Imber received the Order of the Liberator General San Martin and the Picasso Medal by the Unesco, becoming the first Latin American to have been so honored. She was also decorated with, among others, the Legion of Honour (che- valier, the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Cruz de Boyaca, Order ofMerit of the ItalianRepublic, Orden de Mayo (Argentina), Gabriela Mistral Order of Educational andCultural Merit, Order of Rio Branco, Order of Civil Merit and the Order of Isabella the Catholic.The Universidad Católica Andrés Bello named one of its research areasas Sala de Investigación Sofía Imber yCarlos Rangel, as well as naming its journa- lism faculty after her. Arlette Machado published Mil Sofia in 2012, an edited book interview. Imber donated her personal book collection to the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in June 2014. It contains approximately fourteen thousand entries. In 2014, the Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts (VAEA) awarded Imber the Paez Medal of Art 2014 forher work as an advocate for art throughout Latin America.