"Agustí Duran Sanpere (Cervera, 1887 - Barcelona, ​​1975) was a man of action and courage," says Pilar Cuerva, director of the National Archives of Catalonia (ANC) and co-curator, with Enric Terradellas, of the exhibition dedicated to the multifaceted archivist, which runs until June 13. He was methodical, devised and organized an archival system that still endures, and stood up for what was necessary. He rescued in extremis The archive of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which a scrap metal dealer almost turned into pulp. He confronted violent groups who wanted to burn Church property during the Civil War. And he waited, with all the risks that entailed, for Franco's troops to arrive to guarantee the safeguarding of Catalan heritage.

We are in the Roman wall tower of the Palau Requesens, home to the Royal Academy of Belles Lettres. Eulàlia Duran, a sprightly 91 years old, feels almost like she's coming home. As a child, she lived in another Roman tower in Barcelona, ​​the one belonging to the Casa del Ardiaca. She is the daughter of Agustí Duran Sanpere (1887-1975), the man who reinvented the history of Barcelona and created both the city's archives and museum. Tonight—Thursday evening—he is being honored, somewhat belatedly, on the 50th anniversary of his death. In Barcelona, ​​Duran i Sanpere lends his name to a small passage in the Raval district, where the newspaper ARA is now located. A happy coincidence: with the establishment of the Ardiaca's newspaper archive, Duran i Sanpere did much to preserve the memory of the press. We newspapers have a duty to him. The city does too. Duran i Sanpere, who had preserved Catalan culture from the capital during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, who had lived with enthusiasm and ambition during the Republican years at the helm of Barcelona's institutions, and who, stubbornly and skillfully, had maintained their continuity during the Franco regime, albeit for a few months. He did, however, witness with deep satisfaction the emergence of one of his daughters, young Eulalia, as a great historian, a true pioneer among women in times still dominated by patriarchal historiography. Eulalia Duran maintains an easy smile and enviable lucidity. Translator and intellectual protégée of Pierre Vilar, disciple of Jaume Vicens Vives—along with her friends Josep Fontana, Jordi Nadal, and Emili Giralt—compiler of Miquel Batllori's work, friend of Joan Fuster, professor to an entire generation of philologists and historians, her work is a history of the history of culture (16th-18th centuries).