Anna Murià i Romaní (

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

, Romaní; 21 April 1904 – 27 September 2002) was a Spanish Catalan narrator, translator, literary critic, and journalist who wrote short stories, novels, children's literature, and essays. A feminist activist, Murià i Romaní served as secretary of the

Institució de les Lletres Catalanes Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (Institute of Catalan Letters) is a Spanish organization based in Barcelona. An entity of the Government of Catalonia, it was founded in 1937 by intellectuals who were loyal to the Republic during the Spanish C ...

, was a founding member of the Grup Sindical d'Escriptors Catalans (Union Group of Catalan Writers; 1936), and was an Honorary Member of the

Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana The Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (, "Association of Writers in the Catalan Language", or "Association of Catalan-Language Writers"), also known by the acronym and initialism, acronym AELC, is a professional organisation of authors, p ...

Early life and education

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

, Murià i Romaní was the daughter of the journalist and filmmaker, Magí Murià i Torner. She attended religious schools before studying commerce, accounting and English at the l'Institut de Cultura i Biblioteca de la Dona (1918–24).

Career

Murià i Romaní was a relevant political female writer. She was involved with

Acció Catalana Catalan Action (, AC) was a Centre-left politics, centre-left Centre-left politics, Catalanist political movement active in Catalonia during the early 20th century. History AC was created in 1922 around the Catalan National Conference, which brou ...

, but joined

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya The Republican Left of Catalonia (, 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 Valencia, the Balearic Islands and th ...

(Republican Left of Catalonia) in 1932, where she helped with the collection of signatures in favor of the adoption of the Statute of Autonomy of 1932 ( es). In 1932, she organized the "Front Únic Femení Esquerrista" (United Front of Women from the Left) together with other relevant female activists and writers of the time such as Rosa Maria Arquimbau. In 1936, she joined the central committee of the

Estat Català Estat Català (, literally "Catalan State") is a pro-independence nationalist historical political party of Catalonia (Spain). History Estat Català is a historical pro-independence political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded by Franc ...

. Along with Ana María Martínez Sagi, Murià i Romaní was also a member of El Club Femení i d'Esports de Barcelona. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, she was an official of the

Generalitat of Catalonia The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is Self-governance, self-governed as an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parli ...

, where she acted as secretary of the

(Institute of Catalan Letters), collaborated in publications such '' La Dona Catalana'', ''La Rambla'', '' La Nau'', ''Meridià'' and ''

Diari de Catalunya Diari may refer to: *The Soninke word for griot *Diari, Guinea Diari () is a town and sub-prefecture in the Labé Prefecture in the Labé Region of northern-central Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country i ...

''. She was also a member of the Women's Union of Catalonia and a co-founder of the Grup Sindical d'Escriptors Catalans (Union Group of Catalan Writers). While she wrote several novels, ''Aquest sera el principi'' ("This will be the Beginning"; 1986) is considered her major opus.

Personal life

Murià i Romaní met her husband, the poet Agustí Bartra, in 1939, and they went into exile together. They had two children, a son, the anthropologist,

Roger Bartra Roger Bartra Murià (born November 7, 1942, in Mexico City) is a Mexican sociologist and anthropologist. He is the son of the exiled Catalans, Catalan writers Agustí Bartra and Anna Murià, who settled in Mexico after the defeat of the democrati ...

, and a daughter, the philosopher, Eli Bartra. Before returning to

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Murià i Romaní and Bartra traveled through the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico. Muria i Romani died in

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

in 2002; she was a close friend of the writer,

Mercè Rodoreda Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí (; 10 October 1908 – 13 April 1983) was a Spanish novelist, who wrote in Catalan. She is considered the most influential contemporary Catalan language writer, as evidenced by the references of other authors to her w ...

Selected works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muria, Anna 1904 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish women writers 20th-century Spanish translators 20th-century short story writers 20th-century essayists Women writers from Catalonia Translators from Catalonia Literary critics from Catalonia Journalists from Catalonia Spanish feminists Spanish women's rights activists Spanish women short story writers Short story writers from Catalonia Novelists from Catalonia Spanish women novelists Spanish children's writers Spanish women essayists Spanish essayists Spanish women children's writers Spanish women literary critics Women founders Organization founders Catalan-language writers