Francesc Macià

Francesc Macià i Llussà
122nd President of the Government of Catalonia
In office
14 December 1932  25 December 1933
President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora
Preceded by Josep de Vilamala
Succeeded by Lluís Companys
3rd Acting President of the Catalan Republic
In office
14 April 1931  17 April 1931
Preceded by Baldomer Lostau
In 1873
Succeeded by Lluís Companys
In 1934
Acting President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
In office
17 April 1931  14 December 1932
Preceded by himself
As Acting President of the Catalan Republic
Succeeded by himself
As President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
Personal details
Born (1859-09-21)21 September 1859
Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia, Kingdom of Spain
Died 25 December 1933(1933-12-25) (aged 74)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spanish Republic
Nationality Spanish
Political party Estat Català
Republican Left of Catalonia
Spouse(s) Eugènia Lamarca i de Mier

Francesc Macià i Llussà (Catalan: [frənˈsɛzɡ məsiˈa]; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was the 122nd [1] President of Catalonia and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army.[2][3]

Life

Francesc Macià i Llussà was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Spanish army during his military career. He condemned the assault of the politically satirical Catalan journal Cu-Cut in 1905 by some Spanish army officers and was forced to abandon the army.[4]

He was representative for Barcelona and Borges Blanques (Lleida) in the Congress of Deputies from 1907 to 1923, initially by the electoral coalition Catalan Solidarity. During the last years as politician in Madrid he moved from Catalan autonomist to independentist positions.

In 1922 he founded the independentist party Estat Català.[5]

In 1926 he attempted an insurrection against the Spanish dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. This uprising, the aim of which was to achieve the independence of Catalonia, was based in Prats de Molló (Roussillon, southern France).[6] He was arrested in France for this and was convicted and sentenced to two months in jail and a fine of 100 francs. Macià left France for Brussels in March 1927. In April 1930 he returned to Spain after being pardoned; he was exiled again but returned once more in February 1931.[7]

In 1931, after the elections that caused the exile of Alfonso XIII of Spain and gave the local majority to his party Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC), few hours before the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in Madrid, from the balcony of the Palace of the Generalitat (then the seat of the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona), proclaimed the "Catalan Republic, expecting that the other peoples of Spain constitute themselves as republics, in order to establish the Iberian Confederation". Macià was appointed as its acting president. Three days later, the government of the new Spanish Republic, sent three ministers (Fernando de los Ríos, Lluís Nicolau d'Olwer and Marcel·lí Domingo) to Barcelona to negotiate with Macià and the Catalan government. Macià reached an agreement with the ministers, in which the Catalan Republic was renamed Generalitat of Catalonia, becoming an autonomous government inside the Spanish Republic. Macià was the President of Generalitat from 1932, after the first Catalan parliamentary election, until his death in December 1933.

Death

He died on 25 December 1933 in Barcelona. His funeral caused a massive demonstration of grief.[4] His remains rest in the Plaça de la Fe, the Montjuïc Cemetery, in Barcelona's Montjuïc hill.

Documentation

In the National Archive of Catalonia preserved part of his personal collection, which consists of documentation image about the president travels throughout Catalonia and family snapshots. They are a repository of Mrs. Teresa Peyrí i Macià. The fund contains documents generated and received by Francesc Macià, personal and family documents, correspondence from the period before the Second Spanish Republic (until April 1931) and documentation produced primarily in terms of its political activity. The fund brings together documents relating to his conduct before being named president of the Government of Catalonia (1907-1931): As a Member of Parliament (speeches, proclamations, and conference reports) on Catalan State (organization, reports, proclamations, calls, publications, etc.), on Catalan Army (constitution, rules and organization, information mapping and geographic pathways) and on the corresponding period in the Directory of General Primo de Rivera. Finally, note the collection of photographs made in mostly pictures of presidential time. Another part of his personal archive, which consists of correspondence written to/by Joan Agell, documents of Centre Català in New York, diverse documentation and press clippings. It is located in the Pavelló de la República CRAI Library - University of Barcelona.

See also

References

  1. "List of Presidents" (PDF). Government of Catalonia.
  2. "Francesc Macià i Llussà". Catalan Encyclopaedia. 22 March 2014.
  3. Masanés, Cristina (October 2009). "Els orígens del mite". Sapiens (in Catalan). 84.
  4. 1 2 Esculies, Joan (October 2012). "El cavaller de l'ideal". Sàpiens (in Catalan). Barcelona. 121: 22–28. ISSN 1695-2014.
  5. Esculies, Joan (December 2013). "Macià, el paradigma dels conversors a l'independentisme". Ara (in Catalan): 12.
  6. «Qui va trair Macià?» by Jordi Finestres and Giovanni Cattini, Sàpiens volume 84 (october 2009)
  7. "Bowers Sends Condolences". The New York Times. December 26, 1933. p. 15. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
Political offices
Preceded by
Himself, as Acting Presidents of the Government of Catalonia, but in 1716, Josep de Vilamala
Presidents of the Government of Catalonia
1932–1933
Succeeded by
Lluís Companys
Preceded by
Himself, as Acting President of the Catalan Republic
Acting Presidents of the Government of Catalonia
1931–1932
Succeeded by
Himself, as Presidents of the Government of Catalonia
Preceded by
Baldomer Lostau, in 1873
Acting President of the Catalan Republic
1931
Succeeded by
Himself, as Acting Presidents of the Government of Catalonia, but Lluís Companys, as Acting President of the Catalan Republic, in 1934
Party political offices
Preceded by
New title
President of Estat Català
1922–1933
Succeeded by
Josep Dencàs i Puigdollers
Preceded by
New title
President of ERC
1931–1933
Succeeded by
Lluís Companys
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