Jacint Verdaguer
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Jacint Verdaguer. This picture was used in banknotes of 500 pesetas issued in 1971. |
Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló (Folgueroles,
May 17,
1845 - Vallvidrera,
June 10,
1902) is one of the greatest poets of
Catalan literature, he was born in Folgueroles, a town in the Plain of
Vic, in the
comarca of
Osona. The bishop
Torras i Bages qualified him as Prince of the Catalan poets. He was also known as
mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, because of his career as a priest.
His father was Josep Verdaguer i Ordeix (
Tavèrnoles,
1817-
Folgueroles,
1876) and his mother was Josepa Santaló i Planes (
Folgueroles, 1819-
1871).
He was the third of eight children, of which only three survived. In 1856, at the age of 11 he entered the Seminary of Vic. Until he entered the Seminary he lived like the other kids in his town. The anedoctes told about him show that he stood out from the other kids for his intelligence, astuteness and courage, helped by his athletic complexion. He showed a normally balanced compassionate feeling without an apparent religious inclination.
In 1863, when he was 18, he started to work as a teacher and farmer in Can Tona, while he kept studying. Can Tona is in the municipal district of Sant Martí de Riudeperes, today
Calldetenes.
In 1865, while he kept studying and working as a teacher and farmer, he participated in the
Jocs Florals of
Barcelona and earned four prizes. The next year he won two prizes in the same
Jocs Florals or "Floral Games".
The next year, 1866, he won two prizes in the
Jocs Florals.
On
September 24 1870 he was ordained
priest by the bishop Lluís Jordà in
Vic, and in October that same year, he conducted his first Mass in
Sant Jordi's hermitage. The next day he conducted his second Mass in
Sant Francesc's hermitage near Vic.
In 1871, his mother died on
January 17 at the age of 52. On
September 1 he was appointed bishop
coadjutor of Vinyoles d'Orís and three days later he took possession.
In 1873 he published
Passió de Nostre Senyor Jesucrist (Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ). He left Vinyoles d'Orís for health reasons and went to Vic. He went on a trip to
Roussillon and contemplated the
Canigou, maybe for the first time. In December, he joined the
Companyia Transatlàntica as a chaplain because he was prescribed maritime climate for his health and he embarked in
Cadiz bound for
Havana.
In 1876, on
September 8 his father died at the age of 65. On board the "Ciudad Condal", back from
Cuba, he finished his poem
L'Atlàntida. In November he entered Marquis of Comillas' palace as an alms chaplain.
In 1877, when he was 32, and having returned from his journey, the jury of the
Jocs Florals awarded him the special prize of the
Diputation of
Barcelona for his poem
L'Atlàntida. Now he had earned his reputation as a poet.
In 1878, he traveled to
Rome. The Pope
Leo XIII received him and they talked about Verdaguer's poem
L'Atlàntida.
In
1880, for having won three prizes in the
Jocs Florals, he was proclaimed
Mestre en Gai Saber. That same year he published his book
Montserrat.
In 1883 he published
Oda a Barcelona (Ode to Barcelona), and the city council of Barcelona made a print run of a hundred thousand copies.
At the age of 39 he traveled to
Paris,
Switzerland,
Germany and
Russia. On
March 21,
1886, when he was 41 years old, the bishop Morgades crowned him as Poet of Catalonia in the monastery of
Ripoll. He published the great poem
Canigó and made a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land.
In 1893 he left the charge of alms chaplain in the Marquis of Comillas' palace. The publishing of the trilogy
Jesús Infant finished. He moved to the sanctuary of
la Gleva.
In 1894 the books
Roser de tot l'any and
Veus del bon pastor were published. On
March 31 he left the sanctuary of
la Gleva.
On
May 17,
1902, in his 57th birthday, he moved from 235 Aragó street in Barcelona, where he lived, to the country house known as Vil·la Joana, in
Vallvidrera (Barcelona), where he hoped to convalesce. On
June 10 he died in Vil·la Joana. Nowadays, the house, converted into a
museum, can be visited.
Verdaguer was buried in the
Sud-Oest Montjuïc cemetery in
Barcelona.
Among his works these stand out:
*
L'Atlàntida (1876)
*
Idil·lis i cants místics (1879)
*
Oda a Barcelona (1883)
*
Canigó (1886).
*
Montserrat (1889)
See
Jacint Verdaguer (Lletra, espai virtual de literatura catalana)*
Page about Jacint Verdaguer (in Catalan)
*This article draws heavily on the
corresponding article in the Catalan-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of
December 21,
2005.
