- Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia
Infobox Person
name = Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia
caption =
birth_date =January 10 ,1859
birth_place =Alella ,Spain
death_date =October 12 ,1909
death_place =Barcelona ,Spain
other_names =
known_for =
occupation =
nationality = SpanishFrancesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (
January 10 1859 -October 12 1909 ), (known as Francisco Ferrer y Guardia in Spanish and often simply as Francisco Ferrer), was a Spanish Catalanfree-thinker and anarchist.He was born in
Alella (a small town nearBarcelona ) toCatholic parents. A follower of Spanish republican leader Ruiz Zorilla, Ferrer was exiled toParis with his wife and children in 1885. Divorcing in 1899, he remarried a wealthy Parisian teacher shortly thereafter.In 1901 he returned to Spain and opened la Escuela Moderna ("The Modern School") to teach middle-class children (then) radical social values. In 1906 he was arrested on suspicion of involvement with
Mateu Morral 's attack on KingAlphonso XIII and released uncharged over a year later. His school failed and closed while he was incarcerated.Early in the summer of 1908, after his release from jail, he wrote the story of the Modern School. The work was entitled "The Origins and Ideals of the Modern School" and was translated into English byJoseph McCabe and published by theKnickerbocker Press in 1913.Following the declaration of martial law in 1909 during the
Tragic Week , he was arrested and executed without any proof by firing squad at Montjuich Fortress in Barcelona onOctober 13 .Shortly after his execution, numerous supporters of Ferrer's ideas in the
United States formed what were called Modern Schools, or Ferrer Schools, modeled after la Escuela Moderna. The first and most notable Modern School was formed inNew York City in 1911, and then later a community was founded around a school, known asFerrer Colony and Modern School ."Anarchism and Other Essays"
In "
Anarchism and Other Essays ",Emma Goldman called Francesc Ferrer a "rebel" and said that "his spirit would rise in just indignation against the iron régime of his country..." She also made note of his joining of various liberal movements, mentioning that this was caused by his being "famished."External links
* [http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/testing/html/mss0248a.html Francisco Ferrer Collection]
* [http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/Encyclopedia/FerrerFrancisco.htm Francisco Ferrer Page] at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
* [http://www.laic.org/index.htm Fundació Ferrer i Guàrdia]
* [http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/ferrer/ferrer.html Francisco Ferrer Page] at the Anarchy Archives
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