On October 13, 1909, Francesc Ferrer i Guardia was shot at Montjuïc Castle. A military court had sentenced him to death, accusing him, without any evidence, of having instigated the riots of Tragic Week, the Barcelona uprising sparked by the decision of Maura, then Prime Minister, to call up reservists to fight the Rif in the Rif region. Most of the reservists were elderly, fathers of humble origins, and they refused to accept this decision. The fighting was fierce: nearly 100 people died—most of them civilians—around 2,000 were imprisoned, and five were shot. One of them was Ferrer i Guardia, to make an example of punishment.
Indeed, Ferrer's execution did not go unnoticed. There were protests and demonstrations in many European cities, to the point that this event unleashed a journalistic campaign, the "Ferrero campaign," which was one of the key elements in the fall of the Maura government. Who was Ferrer i Guardia, and why did his assassination cause such outrage?
Francesc Ferrer i Guardia was one of the best and most important educators in Catalonia, and this was widely known in Europe. What's more, there is still a monument in his memory in Brussels, financed by popular subscription, and some sixty streets are dedicated to him in France, Belgium, Portugal, and Brazil. Ferrer i Guardia, an anarchist and freethinker, was the founder of the Modern School in 1901; a school that was closed several times, and finally closed in 1908.
What was the Modern School? Briefly, it could be said that it promoted a secular, rationalist, and coeducational education, a huge innovation, frontally opposed by the Church. Its aim was to educate, above all, children of the working class, so abandoned at that time: in Barcelona, in 1900, 55% of the population was illiterate or had no education at all, especially the lower classes and women. But, at the same time, Ferrer's criterion is that schools should not separate children by social class, forming ghettos, but rather different strata should be educated together, because otherwise they will be doomed to not understand each other. What is also surprising, in contrast to the doctrinal and rote forms of the schools of the time, is the openness of its pedagogy to scientific knowledge, observation, and research, following, to a certain extent, the principles of the Free Institution of Education, so important in the renewal of Spanish thought at the end of the 19th century.
The influence of the Modern School on subsequent pedagogy was immense. In fact, we can find traces of it throughout the great pedagogical work of the Barcelona City Council, from the first cultural budget to the end of the war, and also subsequently, to the extent that circumstances permitted. Pere Vergés, director of the Escola del Mar, was a student at the Escola Moderna, and often spoke of the importance of the training he received. Ferrer's pedagogy inspired the work of the CENU, the educational program of the Generalitat during the war, one of the most advanced school projects I know of. Furthermore, many of the educational innovations that have been consolidated over the years are based on Ferrer's thinking, and others are still projects for the future.
Despite the debt that Catalan schools owe Ferrer, nothing has been done so far to overturn his conviction and vindicate his educational legacy. We should therefore welcome the fact that the Ferrer i Guardia Foundation has taken the initiative to launch a manifesto addressed to all citizens demanding the reversal of the conviction and public recognition of a legacy of paramount importance. The manifesto has been signed so far by the Alella City Council—Ferrer was born in this town, and his house is still preserved—the Federation of Movements for Pedagogical Renewal, the Society for the History of Education of Catalan-Speaking Countries, and a few people who have worked on education in Catalonia. We hope that in the coming days, when the manifesto is made public, it will be signed by many more organizations and individuals, until it becomes an unstoppable clamor.
A society that does not recognize those who have contributed the most to collective life is renouncing its own history. And when, in addition, they have been victims of a monstrous injustice, destined to serve as a warning to anyone who wants to change fundamental things, we absolutely need to act, demanding exaltation and reparation.
