Josep Vicenç Foix i Mas (; 28 January 1893 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

– 29 January 1987) was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

poet, writer, and

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

in Catalan. He usually signed his work by using the abbreviation J.V. Foix.

Biography

Born in

Sarrià, Barcelona Sarrià is a neighborhood in the ''Sarrià-Sant Gervasi'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia. Its main street is Major de Sarrià. Former municipality Today what was the old municipality is divided into various neighborhoods and districts. Most a ...

, Foix was the son of a baker. He started a university degree in law, but gave it up after the second year. Later, he worked in the family business as well as reading classic masterpieces of literature by authors such as

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

and

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

. Foix remained rooted to the place where he was born, even after the conclusion of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Foix's work had a consistent liberal tone; he was also involved in introducing

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

ideas to

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. In 1916, Foix began to collaborate with ''La Revista'' and started to become interested in avant-garde art. He found work among publications such as ''Trossos'', ''La Cònsola'' (1919–1920) or ''La Publicitat'' (1923–1936), where he worked as an art director. At the end of the

, Foix returned to the family business, and his artistic presence receded for some time. During this time he compiled his entire poetic opus, and he also acted as a mentor for young artists close to the avant-garde scene, such as

Joan Brossa Joan Brossa (; 19 January 1919 – 30 December 1998) was a Catalan poet, playwright, graphic designer and visual artist. He wrote only in the Catalan language. He was one of the founders of both the group and the publication known as Dau-al-Set ...

. On 25 May 1962, he became a member of the ''Institut d'Estudis Catalans''. His popularity continued to grow, thanks to

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

and his song ''És quan dormo que hi veig clar'', which was adapted from one of Foix's poems. He received many different awards during his life, among them are the

Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia The gold metal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (Catalan: ) is the highest award given by the Generalitat of Catalonia to those people or institutions who have excelled with their work in the political, social, economic, cultural or scientific, and r ...

(''Medalla d'Or de la Generalitat de Catalunya'', 1981) and the Catalan Literary Lifetime Achievement Award (''Premi d'Honor de les Lletres catalanes'', 1984). In 1984, the

Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...

proposed that he should be considered for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. J. V. Foix helped in 1985 to reestablish the students' association ''Federació Nacional d'Estudiants de Catalunya'' (FNEC). He was named its Honorary President. He died in 1987 and was buried in Sarrià. His personal library is located at the

Biblioteca de Catalunya The Library of Catalonia ( ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic producti ...

References

Bibliography

*''J.V. Foix'' 2002, Jaume Vallcorba, Ediciones Omega

External links

J.V. Foix in LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalonia)

J.V. Foix's Persona library at Biblioteca de Catalunya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foix, Josep Vicenc Catalan-language poets Catalan-language writers Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes winners 1987 deaths 1893 births 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century male writers Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies