Bonaventura Ubach i Medir, or Buenaventura Ubach Medir, ( Barcelona, 2 April 1879 -

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, 19 February 1960) was a Benedictine monk of the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, orientalist and biblical scholar. As a traveler and student of the territory and languages of the Middle East, he compiled a large collection of archeological material. It is exhibited in the

Museum of Montserrat The Museum of Montserrat showcases a selection of the most outstanding artistic and archaeological heritage at the thousand-year-old Abbey of Montserrat. The museum contains six very different collections. More than 1300 pieces are exhibited in the ...

and was a decisive contributor to its creation. In 1929, he began the project of the Biblia de Montserrat, a translation of the Bible into the Catalan language.

Biography

After entering Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey in 1894, he was ordained a priest in 1902. He traveled to Jerusalem in 1906 and studied in the École Biblique where he met

Marie-Joseph Lagrange Marie-Joseph Lagrange (born Albert Marie-Henri Lagrange on 7 March 1855, in Bourg-en-Bresse, died on 10 March 1938, in Marseille) was a Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, theologian and founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem. Life Al ...

. In 1907 he was named professor in the Syriac seminary of Jerusalem, and when he returned to Montserrat in 1910, he laid the foundations for the orientalist museums of the monastery. He was a professor of the

Syriac language The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...

and the Hebrew language at the

Anselmianum The Anselmianum, also known as the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm ( it, Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo; ) is a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Benedictines. It offers courses in philosophy, theology, liturgy, monastic studi ...

in Rome from 1913 to 1922. He lived in the Middle East, where he collaborated with the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Christianity ...

in producing an edition of liturgical texts with Patriarch

Ignatius Ephrem II Rahmani Mar Ignatius Dionysius Ephrem II Rahmani (21 November 1848 – 7 May 1929) was Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church from 1898 to 1929 and a Syriac scholar. Life Ephrem Rahmani was born on 21 November 1848 (or on 9 November 1849 according ...

. After leaving Jerusalem, he participated in a regionalist project led by

Francesc Cambó Francesc Cambó i Batlle (; 2 September 1876 – 30 April 1947) was a conservative Spanish politician from Catalonia, founder and leader of the autonomist party ''Lliga Regionalista''. He was a minister in several Spanish governments. He supported ...

and the Fundación San Dámaso to produce a Bible in the Catalan language. Subsequent disagreements led him to abandon the project and direct his own project in producing the Biblia de Montserrat. In 1928, he acquired 200 Egyptian papyri, considered to be the first private collection of such manuscripts in Spain. He returned to Montserrat in 1951, where he regularly celebrated liturgy according to the Syriac Rite.

Works

* ''El Sinaí: viatge per l'Aràbia Pètria cercant les petjades d'Israel'' (1913; second edition 1955; third edition 2011) * ''Legisne toram?'' (1919) * ''La Bíblia. Versió dels textos originals i notes pels monjos de Montserrat'' ** ''El Gènesi'' (1926) ** ''L'Èxode'' (1927) ** ''Levític'' (1927) ** ''Els Nombres'' (1928) ** ''El Deuteronomi'' (1928) ** ''El Psalteri'' (1932) ** ''I i II de Samuel'' (1952) ** ''Litúrgia siríaca de Sant Jaume'' (1952) ** ''Dietari d'un viatge per les regions de l'Iraq (1922-1923)'' (2009)Reseña del libro ''Dietari d'un viatge per les regions de l'Iraq (1922-1923)''
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References

Bibliography

* * Díaz i Carbonell, Romuald. ''Dom Bonaventura Ubach: l'home, el monjo, el biblista'', Aedos, 1962.
2ª edición, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ubach, Bonaventura Spanish Benedictines Orientalists Biblical scholars Syriacists 1879 births 1960 deaths