Valentí Almirall i Llozer

Who was Valentí Almirall i Llozer?

Valentí Almirall i Llozer was a Catalan politician, considered one of the fathers of modern Catalan nationalism, and more specifically, of the left-winged nationalism. He was the son of shopkeepers and studied at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, but had to leave for having criticized the professor Claudio Lorenzale. Did speak Greek, Latin, French, Italian and German, in 1863 and graduated in law at the University of Barcelona.

His wealth and the little vocation he had of working as a lawyer pushed him into politics. Participated in the preparation and the facts of the revolution of 1868 in Barcelona, directed the newspaper El Federalista and collaborated with the Federal-Republican Journal, where he published leaflets quite radicals like Guerra a Madrid!, Bases para la Constitución federal de la Nación Española y para la del Estado de Cataluña, Observaciones sobre el modo de plantear la confederación en España. As a republican he declared himself hostile to any kind of agreement with the monarchical and took part in the Tortosa Pact, signed by representatives of Republican organizations in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Aragon.