Bonaventura Gassol i Rovira (6 October 1893 – 19 September 1980), known as Ventura Gassol, 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, playwright and politician. A
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, he was prominent member of the ''
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
'' (ERC, Republican Left of Catalonia).
Life
Early years (1893–1924)
Bonaventura Gassol i Rovira was born in
La Selva del Camp
La Selva del Camp is a municipality in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute ...
, Baix Camp, on 6 October 1893.
He was enrolled in the Pontifical Seminary of Tarragona, where he received a humanistic education.
He abandoned his ecclesiastical studies in 1913 and moved to
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 ...
the next year.
There he joined a charity that protected minors.
In 1916 he won a prize for his poetry at the
Floral Games
Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as ''Jocs florals'' (; modern Occitan: ''Jòcs florals'' , or ''floraus'' ). In French the ...
of
Badalona
Badalona (, , , ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By popu ...
.
In 1916 the Cultural Council of the City of Barcelona was established and Gassol was given a position in the office of Educational Technical Assistance.
In 1918 he won a prize at the Floral Games of
Sitges
Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...
.
That year he participated in the electoral campaign of the ''Lliga Regionalista'', which was in favor of autonomy for Catalonia.
Gassol began to contribute to magazines and won local awards for his poetry, which was published in his first collection in 1917, ''Àmfora''.
In 1920 he published another collection, ''La nau'' (''The Ship'').
In 1921 he staged a dramatic poem in three acts, ''La cançó del vell Cabrés'' (''Song of the Old Goat'').
He also began to publish short stories and novels, although these were less successful than his poetry and drama.
His 1923 collection of patriotic poem, ''Les tombes flamejants'' (''The Flaming Tombs'') was given good reviews.
In 1922 he married Esperança Galofré, with whom he had two children.
The same year he was one of the founders of the nationalist political party ''
Acció Catalana
Catalan Action ( ca, Acció Catalana, AC) was a Catalanist political movement in the first third of the 20th century.
History
AC was created in 1922 around the Catalan National Conference, which brought together elements of the Joventut Naciona ...
'' (Catalan Action), created from the National Catalan Conference.
First exile (1924–30)
General
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a dictator, aristocrat, and military officer who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during Spain's Restoration era. He deepl ...
was dictator of Spain from 1923 to 1930.
In 1924 Gassol was threatened with jail and fled to France, where he became acquainted with
Francesc Macià
Francesc Macià i Llussà (; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army.
Politically, he evolve ...
, the future president of Catalonia.
In 1926 he was one of the ringleaders of the
Prats de Molló plot, where a group of militants attempted to launch an invasion from French territory. Gassol was arrested by the French police in
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
and taken to Paris, where he was tried and convicted along with Macià and forty other Catalans.
In 1927 he went into exile in Belgium.
In 1928 Grassol and Macià visited Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, New York and Cuba, where they helped draft the Interim Constitution of the Catalan Republic.
In Havana he participated in creating the ''Partit Separatista Revolucionari Català'' (Catalan Revolutionary Separatist Party). He returned to Belgium and in 1929 was living in Brussels, where he founded, helped by other exiles (especially
Francesc Macià i Llussà), the
Casal Català de Brussel·les.
After the end of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in 1930 Gassol spent a few days in the
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 ...
prison and then was allowed to return to Barcelona.
Second Spanish Republic (1931–36)
After his return Gassol rejoined the culture committee.
In 1931 Grassol was one of the founders of the Republican Left of Catalonia.
He soon became a public figure due to his effective oratory.
The
Catalan Republic
Catalan Republic or Catalan State refers to Catalonia at various times when it was proclaimed either an independent republic or as a republic within a Spanish federal republic:
* Catalan Republic (1641), a proclaimed independent state under French ...
was proclaimed on 14 April 1931.
Gassol addressed the crowd from the palace balcony in the
Plaça de Sant Jaume in Barcelona.
Macià was elected president of the government.
Gassol was appointed Minister of the Interior, and a few days later was named Minister of Culture of the
Generalitat of Catalonia
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...
.
Gassol promoted a secular Catalan culture that would meet the needs of all social classes.
He decreed compulsory bilingual teaching in schools, and created the Normal School and the Institute-School, where teachers were trained in Catalan.
He established a Radio Committee to study the structure of radio in Catalonia and the potential for using the medium to spread culture.
Josep Tomàs i Piera represented ''Ràdio Barcelona'' on the committee.
In 1931 Gassol was elected a deputy to the
Constituent Cortes
The Constituent Cortes ( es, Las Cortes Constituyentes) is the description of Spain's parliament, the Cortes, when convened as a constituent assembly.
In the 20th century, only one Constituent Cortes was officially opened (Cortes are "opened" in ...
, where he defended the Catalan language and the Statute of Autonomy.
He delivered the funeral elegy for Francesc Macià.
He retained the position of Minister of Culture in the succeeding government of
Lluís Companys
Lluís Companys i Jover (; 21 June 1882 – 15 October 1940) was a Catalan politician who served as president of Catalonia from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.
Companys was a lawyer close to labour movement and one of the most prominent l ...
.
During the
events of 6 October 1934 President
Lluís Companys
Lluís Companys i Jover (; 21 June 1882 – 15 October 1940) was a Catalan politician who served as president of Catalonia from 1934 and during the Spanish Civil War.
Companys was a lawyer close to labour movement and one of the most prominent l ...
proclaimed the Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic.
As a result, the whole Catalan government was imprisoned, including Gassol.
He was detained in the vessel ''Uruguay'', then transferred to the prison in Cartagena.
They were reinstated in their positions after the victory of the Left in the February 1936 national elections.
Second exile and last years (1936–80)
During the first months 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 ...
(1936–39) Ventura Gassol tried to ensure the safety of various threatened people and to preserve religious monuments.
Gassol went into exile in France by airplane on 23 October 1936, and announced his resignation from the Ministry of Culture on 17 December 1936.
In 1937 he organized the ''Exposició d'Art Català'' (Exposition of Catalan Art) in Paris.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
began in September 1939.
Gassol continued to contribute to the ''Revista de Catalunya'' in exile.
In 1941 he was persecuted by the Nazis and spent three months in prison in Aix-en-Provence.
After his release he made a secret move to Lausanne.
His wife and two children managed to go to Mexico, where his wife died in 1944.
In 1946 Gassol settled on a farm in the
Touraine
Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vie ...
in France.
He married Lucia Wilde in Lausanne on 27 January 1947.
In 1954 the Catalan deputies in Mexico elected him president of the government in exile, but he refused the post.
He maintained good relations with the new president,
Josep Tarradellas
Josep Tarradellas i Joan (), 1st Marquess of Tarradellas (19 February 1899 – 10 June 1988) was a Catalan politician known for his role as the first president of the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya), after its re-establishment ...
.
He sold his farm and moved to
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...
in 1972.
Democratic elections were held in Spain on 15 June 1977.
Two weeks later Grassol returned to Barcelona with his wife.
He received many honors in Catalonia. He spent the last years of his life in Selva del Camp.
He died in
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
on 19 September 1980, aged 86.
Works
Selected works include:
Poetry
* ''Àmfora'' (Barcelona, 1917)
* ''La Nau'' (Barcelona, 1920)
* ''Les tombes flamejants'' (Valls, 1923)
* ''Mirra'' (Badalona, 1931)
* ''Poemes 1917-1931'' (Barcelona, 1934)
* ''Miratges'' (Lausanne, 1950)
* ''Balada del bressol'' (la Selva del Camp, 1977)
Theater
* ''La cançó del vell Cabrés'' (Barcelona, 1921)
* ''La Dolorosa'' (Valls, 1928)
* ''L’home i la bèstia'' (melodrama inspired by the ''
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'' by
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
). In collaboration with J. Carner-Ribalta (1934)
* ''La mort de l’ós'' (Barcelona, 1935)
Prose
* ''El preu de la sang'' (Barcelona, 1923)
* ''L’Oncle Neus. L’ombra del diable. L’escorçó del destí'' (Barcelona)
* ''El mur de roses'' (Barcelona, 1924)
* ''Mossèn Gabriel'' (Barcelona, 1924)
* ''En Joan de les Campanes'' (Barcelona, 1926)
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gassol i Rovira, Bonaventura
1893 births
1980 deaths
Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic