Pompeu Fabra facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pompeu Fabra
|
|
|---|---|
Pompeu Fabra in 1917
|
|
| Born | 20 February 1868 Gràcia, Barcelona, Spain
|
| Died | 25 December 1948 (aged 80) Prada de Conflent, France
|
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | professor, engineer and linguist |
Pompeu Fabra i Poch was born on February 20, 1868, and passed away on December 25, 1948. He was a famous Catalan engineer and a linguist from Spain. A linguist is someone who studies languages and how they work. Pompeu Fabra is most famous for creating the rules for the modern Catalan language. He helped make it easier for everyone to understand and use.
Life of Pompeu Fabra
Pompeu Fabra was born in 1868 in a town called Gràcia. Back then, Gràcia was a separate place from Barcelona. He was the youngest of twelve children. When he was six years old, his family moved to Barcelona.
From a young age, Pompeu Fabra loved studying the Catalan language. He worked with a newspaper and publisher called L'Avenç. Between 1890 and 1892, he helped with a project to improve how Catalan words were spelled. In 1904, he published a book about Catalan spelling called Tractat d'ortografia catalana. He wrote it with other important writers and lawyers.
Even though he loved languages, Fabra first studied industrial engineering in Barcelona. In 1902, he became a chemistry professor in Bilbao. While he was there, he took part in the First International Congress of the Catalan Language in 1906. This event made him well-known in the world of Catalan language studies.
In 1911, he returned to Barcelona. He became a professor of Catalan, a new position created by the local government of Barcelona. He also joined the language department at the new Institut d'Estudis Catalans. He later became the president of this important institute. In 1912, he published his book Gramática de la lengua catalana, which was written in Spanish.
The Institute published important language guides. In 1913, they released the Normes ortogràfiques (Spelling Rules). In 1917, they published the Diccionari ortogràfic (Spelling Dictionary). Their official Gramàtica catalana (Catalan Grammar) came out in 1918. That same year, Fabra also helped create a textbook for learning Catalan grammar.
One of his most famous works was the Diccionari General de la Llengua Catalana (General Dictionary of the Catalan Language), published in 1932. The first version of this dictionary later became the official dictionary for the Institute.
In 1932, because of his great knowledge, he was chosen to be a professor at the Republican Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The next year, he became the head of the university's governing council. In 1934, he was put in prison for a short time after some political events.
Fabra got his teaching job back in 1936. But a big conflict, the Spanish Civil War, started in July of that year. He had to leave his home when the army took over Barcelona. By 1939, he was living in France as an exile. This means he had to leave his country for safety. He faced many difficulties during this time.
He lived in Paris and Montpellier. In 1946, he led a famous poetry competition called the Jocs Florals. Eventually, he moved to Prada de Conflent, a place in France where people speak Catalan. He passed away there on December 25, 1948. At one point during his exile, he made his will in Andorra. He chose Andorra because Catalan was the official language there.
Pompeu Fabra's Legacy
Every year, many Catalans visit his tomb at the Cuixà monastery near Prada.
The Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona is named after him. This shows how important he was to the Catalan language and culture.
Books by Pompeu Fabra
- Tractat de ortografia catalana (1904)
- Qüestions de gramàtica catalana (1911)
- La coordinació i la subordinació en els documents de la cancilleria catalana durant el segle XIV (1926)
- Diccionari ortogràfic abreujat (1926)
- La conjugació dels verbs en català (1927)
- Diccionari ortogràfic: precedit d'una exposició de l'ortografia catalana (1931)
- El català literari (1932)
Images for kids
-
A monument dedicated to Pompeu Fabra in Badalona.
See also
In Spanish: Pompeu Fabra para niños
