Enric Prat de la Riba | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Barcelona Provincial Council | |
| In office 2 April 1907 – 6 April 1914 | |
| Preceded by | Joaquim Sostres i Rey |
| Succeeded by | Joan Vallès i Pujals |
| President of theCommonwealth of Catalonia | |
| In office 6 April 1914 – 1 August 1917 | |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Josep Puig i Cadafalch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà (1870-11-29)29 November 1870 |
| Died | 1 August 1917(1917-08-01) (aged 46) |
| Nationality | Catalan -Catalan |
| Political party | Regionalist League of Catalonia (Catalan:Lliga Regionalista) |
| Alma mater | University of Barcelona; Complutense University of Madrid |
| Occupation | Lawyer, writer, journalist |
Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà (Catalan pronunciation:[ənˈrikˈpɾaddələˈriβə]; 29 November 1870 – 1 August 1917) was aCatalan politician, lawyer and writer. He was a member of theCentre Escolar Catalanista [ca], where one of the earliest definitions ofCatalan nationalism was formulated. He became the first President of theCommonwealth of Catalonia on 6 April 1914 and retained this office until his death. He wrote the book and political manifestoLa nacionalitat catalana in which greater autonomy to Catalonia was advocated. He was one of the main architects of the resurgence of Catalan national consciousness in the19th century.[1] He also took part in the drafting and approval of theBases de Manresa, a foundational document of Catalan regionalist politics that laid out a proposed framework for self-government in Catalonia in 1892.[2]He died in 1917 and is interred in theMontjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.
He was born into a family of rural landowners originally fromCan Prat de la Riba, inBigues. His parents wereEsteve Prat de la Riba i Magarins and Maria Sarrà i Rosàs.[3][4] He was the fifth child of the couple, whose children were Valentí, Rosa, Antònia, Ramon, Enric, Joaquim, and Josep.
Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà was born on 29 November 1870 inCastellterçol, to an affluent Roman Catholic conservative family. He started hislaw studies at theUniversity of Barcelona and finished and received his degree at theCentral University of Madrid.[5]
Prat de la Riba was attracted towards Catalan nationalism when he was still in college. In 1887, he became a member of Centre Escolar Catalanista. He became an important member of the cultural and political organizationUnió Catalanista, in which he wrote some of its most relevant manifestos, among them is the famousMissatge al Rei dels Hel·lens [ca] in 1897. In 1891, he was elected the secretary of Unió. He penned Catalan nationalist writings such asCompendi de la doctrina catalanista andCompendi de la història de Catalunya. He also wrote for the periodicalLa Renaixença [ca]. Since 1899, he promoted Catalan nationalism in politics, at first as a member of theCentre Nacional Català [ca] and later in theRegionalist League of Catalonia. The Regionalist League was a right-wing Catalan political party established in 1901 by Prat de la Riba. The party demanded greater administrative autonomy to Catalonia.[5]
Prat de la Riba served as a secretary of the assembly in charge of writing the draft for a regionalconstitution known asBases de Manresa in 1892, the first step towards the development of theCatalan Statute of Autonomy. He is also known as the author of theNoucentista Catalan nationalist manifestoLa nacionalitat catalana in 1906.
Later on, in 1907 he became the first president of theInstitut d'Estudis Catalans, president of the Diputació de Barcelona and a proponent of theCommonwealth of Catalonia, which he led until his death on 6 April 1914, having served as its first President of the Commonwealth.
In 1902, following an article published inLa Veu de Catalunya titledSeparatism in Roussillon,[6] which was a literal copy of what had been published in the Perpignan newspaperL'Indépendant, legal proceedings were opened against the newspaper. On 2 April, his provisional imprisonment was decreed, which lasted only a few days before he was placed under house arrest.[7] After the coronation of Alfonso XIII, a general pardon was decreed, and on 23 May, by order of the military authority, he was provisionally released. Finally, on 21 June, he was officially notified of the dismissal of the case.[8][9][10]
In 1905, he was elected member of theBarcelona Provincial Council for the second district and was re-elected for Vic-Granollers in 1909, 1913, and 1917. He was elected president of the council in 1907, re-elected in 1909, 1911, 1913, and 1917. As a defender of the provincial Commonwealth (Mancomunitat), he was elected president of theCommonwealth of Catalonia in 1914 and re-elected in 1917. He was a member of the Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Barcelona and authored numerous articles published in theRevista Jurídica de Catalunya.
On 1 August 1917, he died at his birthplace in Castellterçol, probably as a consequence ofBasedow's disease, which he had suffered from for years. On 3 August, a funeral procession, which received condolences from every town it passed through, transported his body to Barcelona.[11] In Barcelona, a large procession was organized to accompany the coffin, which was finally buried at theMontjuïc Cemetery on 4 August.
In 1887, he joined theCentre Escolar Catalanista, from which one of the first definitions ofCatalanism emerged. In 1890, he was elected president and in his presidential speech he stated:
"I come to speak to you about the Catalan homeland, which, small or large, is our only homeland [...]"
— Enric Prat de la Riba,Presidential speech at the Centre Escolar Catalanista, 1890
In 1892, he was secretary of the assembly that drafted theBases de Manresa, a document that set the foundations for therestoration of theCatalan constitutions.
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A defender of Catalan law, he was also a defender of the Catalan language. He held several leadership positions within theUnió Catalanista. As a mobilizer of Catalanist consciousness, he drafted manifestos for the Union, among which stands out theMessage to the King of the Hellenes in 1897, for which he was prosecuted.
Likewise, as a disseminator and Catalanist thinker, he wroteCompendi de la doctrina catalanista (withPere Muntanyola i Carner),Compendi de la Història de Catalunya, and promoted the newspaperLa Renaixença. He actively cooperated in theJocs Florals movement and participated in theFirst International Congress of the Catalan Language in 1906.
From 1899, he promoted a Catalanist political current, first at theCentre Nacional Català and later at theLliga Regionalista. He is also the author of the seminal workLa nacionalitat catalana, written in 1906. He supported the participation of the Lliga in Spanish politics; an example is the drafting of the manifestosPer Catalunya i per l'Espanya Gran (1916) andEl ahorro propio de los catalanes (1916). With the outbreak ofWorld War I, he took a moderate position in favor of Germany.[12]
Prat de la Riba was president of theDiputació de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Council) from 1907 to 1914. As such, on 18 June 1907, he founded theInstitut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies), based on a proposal that arose during theFirst International Congress of the Catalan Language. He promoted the creation of theMancomunitat de Catalunya (Commonwealth of Catalonia), becoming its first president on 6 April 1914, a position he held until his death.
Prat de la Riba managed to unite various efforts and initiatives: although the project was promoted by theLliga Regionalista, without the support of left-wing republican Catalanism and Catalans from the Spanish dynastic parties, unanimity would not have been achieved. This consensus led theGovernment of Spain at the end of 1913 to approve a royal decree authorizing provincial councils to federate exclusively for administrative purposes.[13]
In his inaugural speech after being elected president of the Assembly of the Commonwealth of Catalonia on 6 April 1914 in Barcelona, Prat de la Riba emphasized the importance of the achievement: "The Commonwealth closes a period that begins with thefall of Barcelona, with theNueva Planta decrees […] and initiates another, which is tomorrow […]", recalling that Catalonia had lost self-government two hundred years earlier.[13]
In the linguistic field, Prat de la Riba called for unity and discipline among Catalans regarding theNormes ortogràfiques (Orthographic Norms), and consequently, local corporations adopted the new orthography.[14]
His personal archive is preserved at theArxiu Nacional de Catalunya. The archive contains the documents produced and received by Enric Prat de la Riba, particularly those created through his professional activity, whether legal, literary, or journalistic (including legal studies, literary criticism, and press articles). It also includes documents related to his political and associative activity linked to the Centre Escolar Catalanista, the Unió Catalanista, the Lliga Regionalista, the Provincial Council, and the Mancomunitat de Catalunya (including speeches, lectures, proclamations, manifestos), as well as correspondence (with original letters received from numerous political and cultural figures of the time).
The archive also preserves personal and family documentation (such as memoirs, diaries, agendas, family correspondence, etc.), and documents about the creator of the archive (monographs and articles).[15]
TheBiblioteca de Catalunya, whose creation he promoted,[16] conserves his personal library, a collection of 1,811 books bequeathed by his widow.[17]
| Preceded by | Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona Medal II Elected | Succeeded by |
|---|---|---|
| Manuel Duran i Bas | Ignasi Casanovas i Camprubí SJ |
