Agustí Bartra i Lleonart (; 1908 – 1982) was a Spanish poet, writer, translator and University Professor in

Catalan language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...

Biography

Descendant of a country family, he passed part of his childhood in Sabadell, although he had been born in the city of Barcelona 8 November 1908. When his family came back to Barcelona he entered to work in a textile warehouse. In year 1934 won a competition of social stories, and short time afterwards he started to collaborate in magazines such as ''Friend'' and ''Meridian''.Biography
He took part in 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, link ...

with the republican side, and exiled himself at the beginning of 1939: he passed through several refugee camps ( Sant Cebrià, Argelers and

Agde Agde (; ) is a commune in the Hérault department in Southern France. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. Location Agde is located on the Hérault river, from the Mediterranean Sea, and from Paris. The Canal du Midi conne ...

) before arriving in Roissy-in Brie (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

), where he met the writer Anna Murià (who was also exile) with whom he would marry and have two children. In 1940 they embarked towards

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, and left after to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In there, they fixed their residence and set up the magazine ''Lletres'' (Letters; 1944–1947). Likewise also made stays in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, especially between 1949–1950, 1960 and 1963, being nominated in year 1969 as professor of Hispano-American poetry at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. In 1970 they returned 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 nort ...

; they settled in the city of

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, '' comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ...

, where he died on 8 July 1982. In year 1973 his work ''Els himnes'' (The hymns) was rewarded with the ''Prize Carles Riba of poetry'', and in 1981 with the Cross of Sant Jordi (granted by the

Generalitat de Catalunya 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 ...

). In 1982, ''Haikús d'Arsinal'' was rewarded with the ''Prize of the Criticism of Catalan poetry''.

References

External links

* 1908 births 1982 deaths People from Barcelona Catalan-language poets Catalan-language writers 20th-century translators 20th-century Spanish poets {{Catalonia-translator-stub