Víctor Balaguer i Cirera (; 11 December 1824 – 14 January 1901) was a Spanish politician and author. A native of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, he was educated at the university there.

Biography

His first dramatic essay, ''Pepín el jorobado'', was staged in Barcelona when he was fourteen, and at 19 he was publicly "crowned" after the production of his second play, ''Don Enrique el Dadivoso''. From 1843 to 1868 he was the chief of the Liberal Party in Barcelona, and as proprietor and editor of ''El Conseller'' did much to promote the growth of

Catalan nationalism Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (, ), which is more related to Regionalism (politics), regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most pe ...

. But it was not until 1857 that he wrote his first poem in Catalan – a copy of verses to the

Virgin of Montserrat Our Lady of Montserrat or the Virgin of Montserrat () is a Marian title associated with a statue of the Madonna and Child venerated at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery on Montserrat mountain in Catalonia, Spain. She is the patroness sai ...

. He was the author of ''Historia de Cataluña y de la Corona de Aragón'' in 5 volumes (Barcelona: Salvador Manero, 1860–63). Henceforward, he frequently adopted the pseudonym of "Lo Trovador de Montserrat"; in 1859 he helped to restore the "

Jocs Florals Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as (, ; modern or ). In French, they became the (), and in Basque (). The origina ...

", and in 1861 was proclaimed ''mestre en gay saber''. He went to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, took a prominent part in political life, and in 1867 emigrated to

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. With the 1868

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

and overthrow of Queen

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

, he returned to Spain and represented

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of Bages county, located in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. Crossed by the river Cardener, it is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged aro ...

in the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

, and in 1871—1872 was successively Overseas Minister and Finance Minister. He resigned during the Restoration, but finally followed his party in rallying behind the

Bourbon monarchy The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

; he was appointed vice-president of the Congress, and subsequently was a senator. He died in

on 14 January 1901.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaguer, Victor 1824 births 1901 deaths Politicians from Barcelona Liberal Party (Spain, 1880) politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Restoration Members of the Senate of Spain Spanish male writers Renaixença writers Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Overseas ministers of Spain Government ministers during the First Spanish Republic

Biography

See also

References