The testimony of Josep Pallach. A young student writes about the Republic and autonomy (1932 and 1933)

Abstract

We present two school documents that were written by Josep Pallach, an adolescent who studied at Col·legi Empordanès de Figueres (Alt Empordà), a school run by Josep Pey, a reformist teacher, Republican and a supporter of Catalan autonomy who was exiled, in 1939. The two essays won a prize in the competition organised by the epublican town council. The boy who wrote them and won the award, several years later went on to become professor in the Department of Pedagogy at the recently created Autonomous University of Barcelona and a leading socialist politician. His doctoral dissertation on the teachers of Catalonia at the beginning of the 20th century made a fundamental contribution to the history of education. The texts written by this 12-13 year-old boy reveal his undeniable personality and the political vision of a young man who experienced the new political situation of Catalonia and the Spanish State in an intense way.

Key words: Josep Pallach, Republican school, Second Republic, Col·legi Empordanès, teachers’ exile.