Joan Guàrdia: “It is our job us to maintain a Catalan university that is committed, autonomous and free, in memory of Rector Bosch Gimpera”


They also counted on the special presence and participation of the Mexican anthropologist Cecilia Bosch, great-granddaughter of Bosch Gimpera, who travelled from Mexico for the occasion. The rector — together with the vice-rector of Culture, Memory and Heritage, Agustí Alcoberro; the emeritus professor and curator of the Bosch Gimpera Year, Josep M. Fullola, and the professor of prehistory Francisco Gracia — visited with her the Rectors’ Portrait Gallery, where both the portrait and the academic insignia of her great-grandfather are preserved.
Fullola opened the event with a brief speech in which he highlighted the most relevant facts about the multifaceted figure of Bosch as an academic, rector and politician. “It was 108 years and 23 days ago today that Bosch Gimpera taught the first modern prehistory class in this building, not only at the UB, but in all of Spain: the seed and origin of the Catalan school of archaeology, which continues to this day”, he stated.
Next, Francisco Gracia, co-author — with Josep M. Fullola and Francesc Vilanova — of 58 anys i 7 dies. Correspondència de Pere Bosch Gimpera a Lluís Pericot (1919-1974) (UB Editions, 2003), and author of Pere Bosch Gimpera. Universitat, política, exili (Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2011) and Pensar la Universitat. Escrits de Pere Bosch Gimpera (UB Editions, 2015), gave a gloss of his figure, through his writings. He highlighted the passion and university and political commitment that moved him throughout his life, and mentioned such moving phrases as “I will not return to be sacrificed for the Spanish empire”, regarding the exile, from which he could not return. He also quoted “if freedom is lost, science and the university will disappear”, which shows his absolute commitment to the university ideal as a fundamental part of the high culture of free and democratic countries. He concluded by recalling that “the structural problems that Bosch pointed out a hundred years ago persist to a large extent, and his political ideals are still valid”.
On the other hand, Cecilia Bosch reminisced very movingly about her family memories, and remarked that her great-grandfather “had two great passions: family and history, and he stood out above all for his honesty and his sense of humour”.
The event was closed by the rector, who pointed out that “Bosch’s presence is continuous and daily at the UB today: I often wonder what he would have done. The value of Bosch is part of the heritage of the University in capital letters”. And he warned that “the wall of incomprehension and mediocrity that Bosch also encountered in carrying out his work is still in force and, as long as this is the case, Bosch’s legacy must continue to live on”, he concluded.
On 7 November, at 7.00 p.m., the MAC will inaugurate the exhibition “El museu somiat. Bosch Gimpera i el MAC”, a selection of photographs, documents and archaeological materials conserved in the art gallery, to learn about and recognize his life and his academic and museum activity. In addition, a commemorative plaque in memory of Bosch Gimpera made by the artist Xavier Medina Campeny, who was the founder and first director of the MAC, will be presented.
Lastly, on 21 November, the Jornada Bosch Gimpera: “Una visió polièdrica” will be held in the Pere and Joan Coromines Hall of the IEC. Teresa Cabré, president of the institution, will inaugurate this academic meeting, which will analyze his work and career from multiple perspectives, with outstanding interventions by Borja de Riquer, Josep M. Fullola, Oriol Dueñas, Francisco Gracia, and Mari Carmen Serra Puche, a disciple of Bosch Gimpera at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), among others.
Pere Bosch Gimpera (1891-1974) was a leading figure in archaeology and Catalan academic and political life in the 20th century. Trained in Germany as a prehistorian and archaeologist, he modernized the discipline in Catalonia and is considered the driving force behind the Catalan school of archaeology. He carried out important excavations and was the founder and first director of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia. He was also rector of the University of Barcelona (1933-1939), where he promoted autonomy and modernization, although, following the events of October 1934, he was temporarily dismissed and briefly imprisoned. As Minister of Justice of the Republican Government of Catalonia (1937-1939), he worked to maintain legal order in wartime. When the Civil War ended, he went into exile in Mexico, where he carried out an intense academic activity as a lecturer at the UNAM and at the National School of Anthropology and History. From 1948 to 1952 he was head of the Division of Philosophy and Humanities at UNESCO. In exile, he continued his work as an intellectual and reference point for Catalan culture, kept alive his links with Catalonia, and also took part in cultural and political initiatives in the Republican diaspora.
You can find all the information on the website of the Government of Catalonia about the Bosch Year.