La-Esquella-de-la-Torratxa-Titanic-1912-04-26

''L'Esquella de la Torratxa'' was an illustrated

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

weekly magazine, written in

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 ...

. Published 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 ...

between 1872 and 1939, it was well known for its pro-republican and

anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

stance and would become one of the most important Catalan publications of all times.

History

''L'Esquella de la Torratxa'', meaning "the

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...

of the

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

", was first published on 5 May 1872. It began during an officially-decreed suspension of the publication of ''

La Campana de Gràcia ''La Campana de Gràcia'' (; "Gràcia's bell") was a seminal Catalan weekly magazine of satire, written bilingually in Catalan and Spanish of the late 19th and early 20th century, staunchly supportive of republicanism and anticlericalism. The headq ...

'', a more overtly political magazine. It would, however, become very critical of Barcelona mayor Francisco Ríos Taulet and his promotion of the

1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. It was also the ...

which was seen by many as a wasteful extravagancy. The magazine had a succession of directors along its existence, beginning with José Roca Roca, followed by others such as Mario Aguilar,

Prudenci Bertrana Prudenci Bertrana i Comte (; Tordera, 19 January 1867 - Barcelona, 21 November 1941) was an important modernist writer in Catalan. Biography During his youth, he studied at Girona. Some years later, he went to Barcelona to pursue a course in in ...

and

Pere Calders Pere Calders i Rossinyol (; 29 September 1912 – 21 July 1994) was a Catalan people, Catalan writer and cartoonist. Biography He became known at the beginning of the 1930s for his drawings, articles and stories which were published in newspa ...

. Among the most notable article writers for the magazine were

Santiago Rusiñol Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (, ; Barcelona 25 February 1861 – Aranjuez 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan ''modernisme'' movement. He created more than a ...

, under the pen name "Xarau",

, Francesc Curet, Antoni Rovira Virgili,

Gabriel Alomar Gabriel Alomar (; 1873–1941) was a poet, essayist, educator and diplomat of the early twentieth century in Spain, closely related to the Catalan art movement Modernisme. He was an active leftist libertarian, chiefly in Barcelona and the other Ca ...

and Màrius Aguilar. The main illustrators for the magazine were Apeles Mestres, Tomás Padrón,

José Luis Pellicer José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, Luis Bagaría, Manuel Moliné,

José Segrelles José Segrelles Albert (18 March 1885 - 3 March 1969) was a Spanish painter and illustrator. He was the uncle of cartoonists and painters Eustaquio and Vicente Segrelles.Cuadrado (2000), pp.1148–1149. Biography Segrelles was born in Albaida, ...

, Lorenzo Brunet, José Costa «Picarol», Juan Junceda, Jaime Pajarito, Félix Elías («Apa»), Jaime Juez («Xirinius»), Román Bonet («Bon»), Antonio Roca, Ricardo Opisso, Rosa Riera and Isidro Nonel. In 1939, after José María Planas, the director of ''

El Be Negre ''El Be Negre'', meaning "The Black Sheep" in Catalan, was an illustrated satirical weekly magazine. Published in Barcelona between 1931 and 1936, its life and destiny were closely linked to those of the ill-fated Second Spanish Republic. Josep M ...

'', was murdered by

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

some of the illustrators working for that magazine began working for ''L'Esquella de la Torratxa''. ''L'Esquella de la Torratxa'' came out for the last time on 6 January 1939, when

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

's nationalist faction was poised to conquer Barcelona. During the civil war its competitor was '' La Ametralladora'' which was published by the nationalists. Since 1872 it had published a total of 3,096 issues.L´Esquella de la Torratxa: la campana que enmudeció en 1939
/ref>

References

External links

*
Opisso, l’Esquella i la guerra del Rif

La Esquella de la torratxa: periódich satírichFrancesc Mestre: Ilustradores Ilustres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquella de la Torratxa 1872 establishments in Spain 1939 disestablishments in Spain Magazines published in Catalonia Catalan-language magazines Defunct magazines published in Spain Satirical magazines published in Spain Magazines established in 1872 Magazines disestablished in 1939 Magazines published in Barcelona Weekly magazines published in Spain

History

See also

References

External links