Jacint Verdaguer

Jacint Verdaguer (Folgueroles, 1845 - Vallvidrera, 1902) was a Catalan poet and priest who wrote in Catalan during the Renaixença, the nineteenth-century movement to revive the language and culture of Catalonia. Bishop Josep Torras i Bages called him the "Prince of Catalan poets", and he is still regarded as one of the great names in modern Catalan literature.

He was born into a modest family in the comarca of Osona. His mother, who was deeply religious, passed on a love of poetry, and at ten he entered the seminary in Vic. While training for the priesthood he tutored children and helped with the work on the Can Tona farm. He won prizes at the Jocs Florals in Barcelona in 1865 and 1866, and was ordained a priest in 1870.

His breakthrough came with L'Atlàntida, an epic poem he finished aboard the Ciudad Condal on the voyage back from Cuba, where he worked as a chaplain for a transatlantic shipping company. It earned him the special prize of the Jocs Florals in 1877. Canigó (1886) strengthened his reputation, and his work moved between epic grandeur and intimate religious verse.

His later years were difficult. A crisis followed a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he left his post as almoner in the Comillas household in 1893, and a dispute with his bishop kept him from priestly duties for a time. He died in Vallvidrera in 1902, and his funeral in Barcelona drew a large crowd.

His legacy lies in giving the Catalan literary language a poetic voice with wide popular reach. Some of his verses are still sung in Catalonia, and Manuel de Falla wrote a scenic cantata based on L'Atlàntida. In 1971 his portrait appeared on a 500-peseta banknote.