August Gil Matamala

August Gil i Matamala (born 19 September 1934, Barcelona) is a Catalan human rights lawyer noted for defending political dissidents, trade unionists and pro-independence activists from the Franco era to the present. A prominent labour lawyer before the Tribunal de Orden Público, he later represented Catalan and Basque activists, including those detained in Operation Garzón. He served as president of the Association of European Democratic Lawyers and has been active in left-wing political initiatives. His honours include the Creu de Sant Jordi, the Lluís Companys Memorial Award (2013) and Barcelona's Gold Medal of Civic Merit (2019).

Biography Married to Isabel Giner i San Julián and father of actor Ariadna Gil i Giner. He has had a long and prestigious career in the field of defence of human rights. He set up the first university branch of the PSUC (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) in 1956 while studying for a law degree at the University of Barcelona. Between 1960 and 1975 he defended trade unionists from Workers' Commissions, members of Bandera Roja and other political activists before the Francoist Tribunal de Orden Público (Court of Public Order) and he became a well-known labour lawyer. In 2019 he was also given the Medalla d’or al Mèrit Cívic (Gold Award for Civil Merit) from the city council of Barcelona.