Frederic Pujulà (Palamós, Baix Empordà, 1877 – Bargemon, Var, France, 1963) was a journalist, writer and political activist.

After living in Cuba until he was ten, he returned to Barcelona where he continued his studies and obtained a degree in Law. He wrote for several Catalan nationalist and federalist publications but most especially for the modernist weekly Joventut where he published stories, articles and chronicles of widely varying genres.

After learning the international language Esperanto in Paris he became one of its leading promoters in Catalonia where he published an Esperanto grammar and lexicons, wrote stories in the language and translated such works as Adrià Gual's Misteri de dolor (Mystery of Pain). In 1905 he founded the Esperanto society Espero Kataluna.

He wrote plays along the lines of the vitalist tendency of Modernism, for example Titelles febles (Frail Puppets, 1902), and others co-authored with Emili Tintorer, including El geni (The Genius, 1904), Dintre la gàbia (In the Cage, 1906) and El boig (The Madman, 1907). His novel Homes artificials (Artificial Men, 1912), considered the first work of science-fiction in Catalan, must also be situated within this aesthetic trend. His book En el repòs de la trinxera (In the Trench's Respite) describes his experiences fighting with the French army in the First World War.

Between 1921 and 1939 he was a correspondent for and editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Diluvio but, as a Republican and active Catalan nationalist, he was unable to continue working in his profession after the Civil War. He translated from English and French and wrote for some exile publications. On his death he left behind a considerable body of unpublished works.



Web page: Francesc Viñas for AELC.
Documentation: Documentary archive donated by the author's family to the Biblioteca de Catalunya (National Library of Catalonia).
Photographs: Frederic Pujolà i Mas.
Translation by Julie Wark.