Francesc Pujols (Barcelona, 1882 - Martorell, 1962) was an essayist, columnist, poet, novelist and playwright. Although he lived in Martorell after the 1920s, he was an eminent figure in Barcelona's intellectual life in the first half of the twentieth century. Closely associated with the Ateneu Barcelonès (Barcelona Athenaeum), he received two awards at the 1903 Jocs Florals literary competition in Barcelona and published his Llibre que conté les poesies d'en Francesc Pujols (Book Containing the Poetry of Francesc Pujols) in 1904. He eventually stopped writing poetry to give his attention to philosophy and journalism. After a close association with the humorous weekly Papitu, he began to write for a wide range of newspapers and reviews including El Poble Català, La Publicidad, Las Noticias, Vell i Nou, La Terra, Arts i Bells Oficis, La Nova Revista, Picarol and Mirador, in which he mainly published articles of art criticism, which are partially collected in Recull d'articles de crítica artística (Anthology of Articles of Art Criticism, 1921). In some articles and books, for example Concepte general de la ciència catalana (General Concept of Catalan Science, 1918), he developed his own philosophical system, which he called "Hiparxiologia" (or Science of Existence). This drew on the philosophy of Ramon Llull and was defined by its creator as genuinely Catalan. Francesc Pujols is known for the humorous, natural style that characterises both his popular and erudite writings. His fame as a good conversationalist and brilliant personality attracted a number of well-known people, for example Josep Pla, who sums up his philosophical ideas in El sistema de Francesc Pujols (The System of Francesc Pujols, 1931), and Artur Bladé, who recorded their conversations while they were both in exile in Montpellier in the biographical study Francesc Pujols per ell mateix (Francesc Pujols in His Own Words, 1967).



Web page: Andreu Gabriel i Tomàs for AELC.
Photographs: Fundació Francesc Pujols.
Translation: Julie Wark.