Francesca Torrent
Francesca Torrent Boschdemont (Agullana, Alt Empordà, April 18, 1881 – Barcelona, April 15, 1958) was a Spanish writer. She sometimes used the pseudonym Miosotis.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Francesca Torrent Boschdemont was born at the Can Genís farmhouse in Agullana, into a family of rural landowners.[3] After an early education that included religious and moral training, she moved to Girona to study teaching, although she never worked as a teacher.[1][2]
Career
[edit]From a very young age, influenced by her paternal grandfather, the poet Joaquim Torrent, she began publishing poetry and prose on rural and traditional themes in publications such as El Correo de Gerona, Lo Geronés, Gente Nueva, El Deber, and El Tradicionalista. Coinciding with the appearance of the first Catalan-language magazines for women, Torrent began contributing to Oro y Grana and Feminal.[1][2][4]
In 1907, she married Jeroni Figa Sala, with whom she had 10 children. The couple, who moved to Banyoles and later to Girona, suffered financial difficulties as the family grew. During the 1920s and 1930s, she wrote tenaciously, her poetry centered on family events. She also published regularly in newspapers and magazines such as Avant, Joventut Obrera, El Eco de Gerona, and El Nord de Girona, among others. She also contributed to El Semanario de Banyoles, Marinada, Vida Banyolina, and Tiempos Críticos.[1][2] Torrent's prose and poetry, mostly rural, traditional, and religious, remained outside the cultural currents of the 20th century, as her main inspiration came from the Renaixença and popular poetry.[2]
His social position and conservative ideology conflicted with the ideals of the Second Republic, affecting her literary output, which, over the years, took on an increasingly religious tone. During the Spanish Civil War, two of her sons, enlisted in the Terç de Requetès de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat, and died on the front lines. This, followed by the ban on publications in Catalan language, led to her not publishing her work again until 1953, when she agreed to write the opening speech for the Agullana Festival, which included four verses written in Catalan.[2]
Death and legacy
[edit]Francesca Torrent died in Barcelona on April 15, 1958.[2]
A voluminous prose work and several collections of her poetry remain unpublished and are housed in the Figueras Regional Historical Archive. Narcís-Jordi Aragó dedicated the article "Francisca Torrent, Rural Costumisme i Poesia Popular" to Torrent, as well as an anthology of women's poetry, Las cinco ramas (The Five Branches) (1975), which includes Torrent's biography and a poem.[2][5]
In 2011, her name was included in the 1st Congress of Women in the Literary Field: The State of the Art.[6]
Awards and honours
[edit]She won several awards throughout her career. Her 1910 novel Almas pariones won an award at the Banyoles Floral Games. In 1955, she won a prize from the Girona Provincial Council in the Marian Contest in Figueres for her work, Sonets marians.[2]
Selected works
[edit]- 1910 - Almas pariones: assaig de novela
- 1955 - La Mare de Déu de la Salut d'Empordà.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Padrosa Gorgot, Inés (2009). Diccionari biogràfic de l'Alt Empordà [Biographical Dictionary of the Alt Empordà] (PDF) (in Catalan). Girona: Diputació. p. 825. ISBN 978-84-96747-54-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Revista de Girona, ed. (April 2006). "Francisca Torrent, costumisme rural i poesia popular" [Francisca Torrent, rural customs and popular poetry] (in Catalan). pp. 72–76.
- ^ Pobles de Catalunya (ed.). "Can Genís - Agullana" [Dog Genís - Agullana] (in Catalan).
- ^ "Francisca Torrent". udg.edu (in Catalan). University of Girona.
- ^ "Francisca Torrent, costumisme rural i poesia popular" [Francisca Torrent, rural customs and popular poetry]. raco.cat (in Catalan).
- ^ "LAS MUJERES EN EL ÁMBITO LITERARIO: EL ESTADO DE LA CUESTIÓN- Actas del I Congreso Las mujeres en el ámbito literario: el estado de la cuestión" [WOMEN IN THE LITERARY FIELD: THE STATE OF THE ARTICLE - Proceedings of the 1st Congress Women in the Literary Field: The State of the Art] (PDF). inmujeres.gob.es (in Catalan). Instituto de las Mujeres.
External links
[edit]- Una escritora y poetisa ampurdanesa, 1908 (An Empordà writer and poetess, 1908) (in Catalán)