Joan Francesc Mira i Casterà (born December 3, 1939, in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain) is a Spanish writer,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and sociologist. He is 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 ...

and President of Acció Cultural del País Valencià. In politics he is a supporter and has been a candidate of

Valencian Nationalist Bloc The Valencian Nationalist Bloc ( or ''BNV''; ) was a Valencian nationalist party in the Valencian Country, Spain. It was the largest party in the Coalició Compromís until 2021, when it was replaced in a refoundation process by Més–Comprom� ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Around the valencianist and historical theme, his works include '' Crítica de la Nació Pura'' (1985), which he discusses the concept of nation, '' Sobre la nació dels valencians'' (1997) and ''Els Borja, família i mite'' ("The

Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Cro ...

: family and myth", 2000).

Biography

In 1959 he obtained a bachelor's degree in

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

, and the following year, also in Rome, he graduated in philosophy by

Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

. In 1962 he graduated in Philosophy from the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

and he reached his PhD in Philosophy from the same university in 1971. He later worked as a professor of Ancient Greek language in 1983 and 1991, when he reached the chair of this language in the

Jaume I University Jaume I University (, ; ) is a university in the city of Castelló de la Plana, Valencian Community, Spain. It was founded in 1991, and it has approximately 14,000 students. The campus, covering 176 000 m2, has 4 faculties and many research and ...

where he developed his teaching. In 1991 he received the

Creu de Sant Jordi Award The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English 'St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was established by the Generalit ...

for his civic engagement. Also in 1999 became a member of the

Institute of Catalan Studies The Institute for Catalan Studies ( ), also known by the acronym IEC, is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture". It is based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. IEC The IEC is known ...

. During the seventies he collaborates in the '' Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale'' from Sorbonne, and in 1978+1979 he was lecturer at the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He directed the Valencian Institute of Sociology and Social Anthropology between 1980 and 1984, and in 1982 he founded the Museum of Ethnology in Valencia, institution that he directed until 1984. He is also author of novels and short stories as ''El bou de foc'' (1974), ''Els cucs de seda'' (1975), ''Viatge al final del fred'' (1984), ''Els treballs perduts'' (1989) – Lectors del Temps Award, 1990 and a thematic approach to Ulysses from Joyce-, ''Borja Papa'' (1996), ''Quatre qüestions d'amor'' (1998) and ''Purgatori'' (2002). As a translator, include versions of ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

'' (2001), the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

(2004) and the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

(2011)Editorial file translation of ''Odyssey''
/ref> In 2009 he was awarded the Premi de la Crítica de narrativa catalana 2008 for his work '' El professor d'historia''.

Works

Novels

*''El bou de foc'' (1974) *''Els cucs de seda'' (1975) *''El desig dels dies'' (1981) *''Viatge al final del fred'' (1983) *''El treballs perduts'' (1989) *''Borja Papa'' (1996) *''Purgatori'' (2002) *''El professor d'història'' (2008) * ''El tramvia groc'' (2013)

Short stories

*''Quatre qüestions d'amor'' (1998) *''Els cucs de seda'' (1975)

Essays, studies, biographies

*''Som. Llengua i Literatura'' (1974) *''Un estudi d'antropologia social al País Valencià: els pobles de Vallalta i Miralcamp'' (1974) *''Els valencians i la terra'' (1978) *''Introducció a un País'' (1980) *''Població i llengua al País Valencià'' (1981) *''Crítica de la nació pura'' (1985) *''Hèrcules i l'antropòleg'' (1994) *''Sense música ni pàtria'' (1995) *'' Sobre la nació dels valencians'' (1997) *''Cap d'any a Houston'' (1998) *''Els Borja. Família i mite'' (2000) *''Sant Vicent Ferrer. Vida i llegenda d'un predicador'' (2002) *''La prodigiosa història de Vicent Blasco Ibáñez'' (2004) *''Vida i final dels moriscos valencians'' (2009) *''En un món fet de nacions'' (2008) *''Europeus. Retrat en setanta imatges'' (2010)

Translations

*''Borja Papa'' (1997) *''Valencia para visitantes y vecinos'' (1999) *''Los Borja: familia y mito'' (2000) *''El tramvia'' (2001), from

Claude Simon Claude Eugène Henri Simon (; 10 October 1913 – 6 July 2005) was a French novelist and recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature. Biography Claude Simon was born in Tananarive on the isle of Madagascar. His parents were French, an ...

*''La divina comèdia'' (2001) *''Evangelis'' (2004) *''l'Odissea'' (2011)

Notes

External links

Joan F. Mira
at the website of

(AELC) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mira i Castera, Joan Francesc Living people Catalan-language writers Translators of Dante Alighieri 1939 births Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni University of Valencia alumni