Catalan political thought will reach American and British universities

BarcelonaFrancesc Eiximenis (Girona, 1330 - Perpignan, 1409), one of the most widely read medieval writers: among his readers were kings such as Martí l'Humà. Valentí Almirall (Barcelona, ​​1841-1904), a left-wing Catalanist. Josep Pallach (Figueres, 1920 - L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1977), politician and educator, member of the POUM and the CNT. Or the writer and feminist activist Maria Aurèlia Campmany (Barcelona, ​​1918 - 1991). These are some of the thirty authors that form part of the collection. Catalan classics of political thought. Co-published by the Institut Ramon Llull and the Institute for Self-Government Studies of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), the collection aims to make the texts of Catalan political and legal thought from the Middle Ages to the 20th century available to readers around the world. In Catalan and English, the words of all these thinkers will be accompanied by an introductory text by Catalan and international academics who will put the thought of each one into context.

"Political thought is inseparable from culture. It reflects values, ideas, and struggles that have marked our history and our governing institutions. Political culture has also marked our identity," emphasizes Pere Almeda, director of the Institut Ramon Llull. The first issue of the collection is News from Catalonia / We, the Catalans (1954), by Jaume Vicens Vives, with an introductory text by historians Paul Freedman and Josep M. Muñoz. Vives (1910-1960) stood out as a historian during the Second Republic and survived the misery of the post-war period and Franco's regime, becoming the quintessential bridge between the different Catalanist sensibilities at home and in exile. Both Freedman and Muñoz will present the collection at various American universities, including Yale, Princeton, and New York, as well as at English and Scottish universities.