Rossend Arús i Arderiu (Barcelona, 1845-1891) was a playwright, fiction writer, and columnist for several Barcelona newspapers and magazines.

From a well-to-do family, he studied Law at the University of Barcelona and was an active participant in the more festive side of the city's cultural life. He joined the Freemasons of Catalonia in 1866, and eventually became Venerable Grand Master. His political views embraced Catalan nationalism and federalism, as can be seen throughout his written work.

He is the author of almost sixty plays, most of them with a political accent (like May mes monarquia!, 1873) or humorous (Lo comte en Jaume o Un drama en l'Odeón, 1870). Notable in Spanish is his work El nuevo Tenorio (1885). He also wrote plays of a religious nature, among them Los Pastorets (1875) and musical comedies such as La Llúcia dels cabells de plata (1871).

In 1877 he published in New York the first work ever to be printed in Catalan in the United States, namely Cartas á la dona, an account in verse of his impressions of the Philadelphia World's Fair. As a journalist, he wrote for several dailies and journals including Diari català, La Renaixença, La Llumanera de Nova York, and L'Esquella de la Torratxa. He was editor of La Luz, the magazine of the freethinkers society.

He was also a well-known philanthropist and one of his outstanding contributions was the Arús Public Library, in passeig de Sant Joan, 26, Barcelona.

Web page: Francesc Viñas for AELC (Association of Catalan Language Writers).
Documentation: Jordi Galofré: Rossend Arús i Arderiu. 1845-1891. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, 1989; Joan Rocamora: El teatre de Rossend Arús i Arderiu. Bellaterra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2020, and Biblioteca Pública Arús.
Translation: Julie Wark.