Carles Fages de Climent (1902 in

Figueres Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...

– 1968) was a writer, poet and journalist from the

Empordà Emporda (from the official name in ca, Empordà, , name in es, Ampurdán, ) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain, divided since 1936 into two ''comarques'', Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà. The city of Figueres, an important u ...

, a historical region of Catalonia, Spain. He was born in Figueres on May 16, 1902. In Figueres' high school, he met

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

, starting a friendship that would last all their lives. Fages de Climent contributed to the literary mythification of his native region, taking the

, the northern wind, the

tramuntana Tramontane ( ) ; french: tramontane ; el, τραμουντάνα, tramountána, ; it, tramontana ; la, trānsmontānus ; mt, tramuntana ; sl, tramontana ; sh, tramontana ; es, link=no, tramontana . is a classical name for a northern wind ...

and its people as a thematic basis of a multiple literary production (poetry, prose, theater and journalism). Thus, he created literary characters like the Cobbler of Ordis – comparable, according to

Eugeni d'Ors Eugenio d'Ors i Rovira (; Barcelona, 28 September 1882 – Vilanova i la Geltrú, 25 September 1954) was a spanish people, Spanish writer, essayist, Journalism, journalist, Philosophy, philosopher and Art criticism, art critic. He wrote in both C ...

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

of Cervantes. He also contributed in a decisive way to conferring determinate attributions to certain villages of the Empordà like (

Llers Llers is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the ''Comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Alt Empordà, Province of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain References External links Government data pages
{{Authority control Municipaliti ...

, land of witches; or

Vila-sacra Vila-sacra is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its S ...

, capital of the world).

Fages and Dalí

He collaborated several times with his friend and schoolmate Salvador Dalí, who, in 1924, being still almost unknown painter, illustrated a book for the first time. It was Fages' poem, in Catalan language ''Les bruixes de Llers (The Witches of Llers)''. He illustrated as well another book of Fages de Climent, ''La balada del Sabater d'Ordis (The Balad of the Cobbler of Ordis)'' (1954), writing also the epilogue. They finally worked together at the occasion of the homage that the city of

paid, in 1961, to Salvador Dalí. They made an auca – a series of pictures with captions in rhyming couplets which tell a story – entitled in Catalan language
El triomf i el rodolí de la Gala i en Dalí
' (''The triumph and the couplet of Gala and Dalí''). Fages put the verses and Dalí the drawings. The text is a poetic biography of the painter and the ilustracions provide a brilliant synthesis of all the Dalinian symbology. Thus, the soft watches, the ants, the

Angelus The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ. As with many Catholic prayers, the name ''Angelus'' is derived from its incipit—the first few words of the text: ("The Angel of the Lord ...

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

, the shoemaker of

Ordis Ordis is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute ...

, and some of the main Dalinian referents, like

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

or Gaudí. It is also worth mentioning Dalí's paintwork "Christ of the Tramontana", held in the

Dalí Theatre and Museum The Dalí Theatre and Museum ( ca, Teatre-Museu Dalí, ; es, Teatro-Museo Dalí) is a museum dedicated to the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia, Spain. Salvador Dalí lived there from 1984 to 1989, and is buried in ...

– carried out by Salvador Dalí in homage to Fages de Climent on the occasion of his death, and that makes allusion to one of the most popular verses of Fages de Climent, "The Prayer to the Christ of the Tramuntana".

References

*This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Catalan-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of January 15, 2008.
Carles Fages de Climent

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fages de Climent, Carles 1902 births 1968 deaths Catalan-language poets Catalan-language writers 20th-century Spanish poets