Rovira i Virgili, Antoni, 1882-1949
(Updated 05/01/2021)
Antoni Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, 1882-Perpignan, 1949). Politician, linguist and journalist. He studied Law in Barcelona. As a journalist he contributed to El poble català, L’Esquella de la Torratxa, La Nació and La veu de Catalunya, among others. He managed the Revista de Catalunya, La nau and La avanzada. He wrote numerous books and articles on Catalonia's national cause, among these were Debats sobre’l catalanisme (1915), Nacionalisme i federalisme (1917), Els polítics catalans (1929), Història nacional de Catalunya (1922-1934), and Resum d’història del catalanisme(1936). He was one of the founders of the Societat Catalana d’Edicions (Catalan Society of Publishers). As a linguist, he published Diccionari català-castellà & castellà-català (1913), Novíssima ortografia catalana (1916) and Gramàtica elemental de la llengua catalana (1916).
As a politician, he worked with Enric Prat de la Riba in the Mancomunitat de Catalunya (Commonwealth of Catalonia), he founded Acció Catalana and later Acció Republicana de Catalunya. Finally, he joined the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. He was a member of the Parliament of Catalonia, of which he was first appointed Vice-President and when he was exiled in France, he became President. He was part of the Government of Josep Irla. In 1946 he moved to Perpignan.
Part of his work, censored and persecuted during the Franco dictatorship, was published in the sixties. In 1937 he was awarded the Premi Valentí Almirall for the best collection of news articles.
Who is who (Institució de les Lletres Catalanes)
Antoni Rovira i Virgili Collection at the National Archive of Catalonia.
Teresa Rovira i Comas Legacy at CRAI of Universitat Rovira i Virgili
