Abelardo Raidi
raɪ-dɪ(December 25, 1914 – January 27, 2002) was a
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...
n
sportswriter and
radio broadcaster. He was born in
Valencia, Carabobo
Valencia () is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela.
The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. It is also the largest city in the Valencia-Maracay m ...
.
Raidi began his career as a radio announcer and play-by-play sports broadcaster in several stations in his country. Then, in 1941 he was the official representative of the
Venezuela national baseball team which won the championship title in the
IV Amateur Baseball World Series held in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. .
He later became an accomplished sports journalist in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
for almost seven decades, first at ''
El Universal'' and later at ''
El Nacional'', where he turned in a sports editor and remained for more than 60 years its prestigious and widely read column ''Pantalla de los Jueves'' (Screen on Thursdays), where he also wrote with authority about boxing and golf, among other sports, and interviewed entertainment personalities as
Claudia Cardinale
Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English.
Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...
,
María Félix and
Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...
. Also respected as a beauty scout, he was instrumental in the participation of
Maritza Sayalero and
Irene Sáez in the
Miss Venezuela beauty pageant, which both won, and then the
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Str ...
title in 1979 and 1981, respectively.
Raidi was also a founding member of the Circle of Sports Journalists in Venezuela and earned the National Journalism Award. In addition, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) established an award to honor him, The Abelardo Raidi Award.
Besides this, Raidi represented
Zulia
Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...
state in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...
of Venezuela during the 1969–1974 period and the
Federal District
A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...
from 1974 to 1979.
Raidi died in 2002 in Caracas at the age of 87. The following year, he gained induction into the
Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their first class.
Sources
Salón de la Fama del Béisbol de Venezuela – 2003 Inductees' Biographies(Spanish)
*
es.Wikipedia.org – Abelardo RaidiAIPS America – Premio Abelardo Raidi(Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raidi, Abelardo
1914 births
2002 deaths
People from Caracas
People from Valencia, Venezuela
Venezuelan journalists
Venezuelan sportspeople
20th-century journalists