José Maria Soler Coll (1893 – 1971) was a Spanish agronomist, mountain climber, and skier.

Early life and education

Born to a family of rural landowners, Soler studied at the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

school of

Col·legi Casp Col·legi Casp–Sagrat Cor de Jesús (, in English language, English "Casp College-Sacred Heart of Jesus"), also known as Jesuïtes de Casp, is a Society of Jesus, Jesuit school in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, founded in 1881. Its Catalan languag ...

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 ...

, sharing a classroom with

Josep Maria de Sagarra Josep Maria de Sagarra i de Castellarnau (Barcelona, 5 March 1894 – 27 September 1961) was a Catalan-language writer from Barcelona, Catalonia. Biography Born in Barcelona in 1894, in the breast of a family of the Catalan nobility being son ...

Sporting career

A lover of sports, he became interested in

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, and

mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

, so he initially became a member of the unknown '' Centre Excursionista de Defensa Social'', but shortly after, he changed organizations and became a member for life of the Mountain Sports Section of the Hiking Club of Catalonia (CEC), starting to practice mountaineering around 1916. A keen and fervent skier, he began with long excursions near Barcelona, in the eastern

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, but soon he also headed towards the central Pyrenees, and together with the brothers Ramir and Isidre Puig, he made the first Catalan ascent of Besiberri Nord on 31 August 1916. Two years later, in 1918, he participated in the first Catalan ascent of Russell Peak, Margalida Peak, and , all three peaks located in the Maladeta massif, in the Ribagorça region. He also made several trips to the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

to visit the main ski schools and learn new techniques to bring them back to Catalonia. In 1919, Soler, Luis Estasen, and Pau Badia, members of the CEC, made an important mountain crossing on skis from

Bagà Bagà () is a Spanish municipality located in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Berguedà, in Catalonia. Traditionally, Bagà is considered the capital of ''Alt Berguedà'', the mountainous northern half of the comarca. Location Bagà is lo ...

Benasque Benasque (; in Benasquese dialect: ''Benás''; ) () is a town in the comarca of Ribagorza, province of Huesca, (Spain). It is the main town in the Benasque Valley, located in the heart of the Pyrenees and surrounded by the highest peaks in tha ...

, passing through ''La Seu d'Urgell'', ''Llavorsí'', ''Esterri d'Àneu'', the port of Bonaigua, the Vall d'Aran, and the port of ''La Picada''. This crossing had the support of the president of the

Commonwealth of Catalonia The Commonwealth of Catalonia (, ) was a deliberative assembly made up of the councillors of the four provinces of Catalonia. Promoted in its final stages of gestation by the Regionalist League of Catalonia, it was strongly endorsed by municip ...

Enric Prat de la Riba Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà (; 29 November 1870 – 1 August 1917) was a Catalan politician, lawyer and writer. He was a member of the , where one of the earliest definitions of Catalan nationalism was formulated. He became the first Pr ...

, and was organized to introduce skis to the inhabitants of the Aran Valley, who were isolated during the winter months.

Professional career

Upon finishing his degree in agriculture with 22 excellent marks, Soler, who remained single throughout his whole life, dedicated himself professionally to the world of agriculture from his role as an agronomist engineer. He worked at the Rural Land Service of the Commonwealth and also at the Higher School of Agriculture, from where he made a famous trip to the Aran Valley, which resulted in an important unpublished monograph that may one day see the light of day. Soler suffered hardships during the

dictatorship of Primo de Rivera General Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship over Spain began with a coup on 13 September 1923 and ended with his resignation on 28 January 1930. It took place during the wider reign of King Alfonso XIII. In establishing his dictatorship, ...

and the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

. He was a member of the CSIC and a collaborator of the FAO, achieving significant prestige in the world of agriculture, genetic selection, and fertilizers.

Later life and death

During the 1930s he was the president of the ski section of the CEC. He died in Catalonia in 1971, at the age of either 77 or 78.

Legacy

In 2015, the writer Francesc Roma i Casanovas published a biography about him in ''Cossetània Edicions'' under the title ''Josep Maria Soler i Coll. Alpinista i agrònom (1893–1971)'', thus bringing his private, largely unknown mountaineer biography to the public light.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soler, Jose Maria 1893 births 1971 deaths Sportspeople from Catalonia Spanish agronomists Spanish mountain climbers Spanish skiers Spanish male ski mountaineers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen