The UB commemorates Pau Casals’ honorary doctorate awarding ceremony

Pau Casals smoking pipe at the balcony of Sant Salvador house [chemical photograph], Puig Farran, Joan Andreu, [01/01/1936 - 31/12/1936]. Puig Ferran family. Pau Casals collection. Pau Casals Foundation
Pau Casals smoking pipe at the balcony of Sant Salvador house [chemical photograph], Puig Farran, Joan Andreu, [01/01/1936 - 31/12/1936]. Puig Ferran family. Pau Casals collection. Pau Casals Foundation
News | Culture
(06/10/2023)
On 18 January 1939, a week before the fall of Barcelona into the hands of Franco's army, the last Doctors’ Senate of the Autonomous University of Barcelona — the name by which the UB was known during the Republican period — approved of the awarding of the honorary doctorate, the institution's highest distinction, to the musician Pau Casals, at the proposal of the University's Board of Trustees, led by the Rector Pere Bosch i Gimpera, and at the request of a large group of professors from different faculties. Most of them, with Casals and Rector Bosch as leaders, went into exile in the following days. It cannot be confirmed whether Casals personally received the award at the University, or whether it was sent to his home address. In any case, the exceptional situation did not allow the solemn award ceremony to take place in the usual manner. The master always kept this distinction, which is now in the custody of the Pau Casals Foundation.
Pau Casals smoking pipe at the balcony of Sant Salvador house [chemical photograph], Puig Farran, Joan Andreu, [01/01/1936 - 31/12/1936]. Puig Ferran family. Pau Casals collection. Pau Casals Foundation
Pau Casals smoking pipe at the balcony of Sant Salvador house [chemical photograph], Puig Farran, Joan Andreu, [01/01/1936 - 31/12/1936]. Puig Ferran family. Pau Casals collection. Pau Casals Foundation
News | Culture
06/10/2023
On 18 January 1939, a week before the fall of Barcelona into the hands of Franco's army, the last Doctors’ Senate of the Autonomous University of Barcelona — the name by which the UB was known during the Republican period — approved of the awarding of the honorary doctorate, the institution's highest distinction, to the musician Pau Casals, at the proposal of the University's Board of Trustees, led by the Rector Pere Bosch i Gimpera, and at the request of a large group of professors from different faculties. Most of them, with Casals and Rector Bosch as leaders, went into exile in the following days. It cannot be confirmed whether Casals personally received the award at the University, or whether it was sent to his home address. In any case, the exceptional situation did not allow the solemn award ceremony to take place in the usual manner. The master always kept this distinction, which is now in the custody of the Pau Casals Foundation.

The University of Barcelona corrects this historical debt 84 years later, and within the framework of the 50th anniversary of the Pau Casals’ death, by commemorating the appointment of the musician Pau Casals as Doctor Honoris Causa. 

The event, which will take place on Tuesday 17 October at 12:00 noon in the Paranymph Hall of the Historic Building, is co-organized by the UB and the Pau Casals Foundation. It will begin with the reading of the record of his appointment as Doctor Honoris Causa on 18 January 1939. The event will address both the humanistic and artistic dimensions of Casals. Jaume Carbonell, lecturer at the Department of History of Art of the Faculty of Geography and History of the UB, will be in charge of the former, while the composer and conductor Antoni Ros-Marbà will speak on the latter. 

The event will address both the humanistic and artistic dimensions of Casals

As a tribute and recognition, the UB will present a commemorative diploma to the Pau Casals Foundation. The event will feature musical interventions related to the work of Pau Casals by the cellist Biel Garriga and the pianist Yoko Suzuki. 

Pau Casals, universal Catalan 

Pau Casals (El Vendrell, 1876 – San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1973) was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Cellist, conductor, composer, humanist and loyal fighter for freedom and democracy, his legacy makes him one of the most universal names in music and peace. 

Multimedia gallery

Poster of the event

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Video of the event.

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