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The Right HonourableFrancesc Macià i Llussà
Macià in 1925
122nd President of the Government of Catalonia
In office 14 December 1932 – 25 December 1933
President	Niceto Alcalá-Zamora
Preceded by	Josep de Vilamala
Succeeded by	Lluís Companys
3rd Acting President of the Catalan Republic
In office 14 April 1931 – 17 April 1931
Preceded by	Baldomer Lostau in 1873
Succeeded by	Lluís Companys in 1934
Acting President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
In office 17 April 1931 – 14 December 1932
Preceded by	Himself as Acting President of the Catalan Republic
Succeeded by	Himself as President of the Generalitat de Catalunya
Personal details
Born	(1859-09-21)21 September 1859 Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia, Kingdom of Spain
Died	25 December 1933(1933-12-25) (aged 74) Barcelona, Catalonia, Spanish Republic
Political party	Estat Català Republican Left of Catalonia
Spouse	Eugènia Lamarca i de Mier
Signature

Francesc Macià i Llussà (Catalan: [frənˈsɛzɡ məsiˈa]; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Catalan politician who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army.

Politically, Macià evolved from an initial regenerationism of Spain to the defense of the Catalan Republic, being appointed as the first president of the restored Generalitat and achieving the first successful establishment of self-government for Catalonia of modern history.

Life

Early years

Francesc Macià i Llussà was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Catalonia, Spain. Shortly after the death of his father, when he was 16, he entered the Military Academy of Guadalajara to join the Corps of Engineers of the Spanish Army, specializing in bridges, railways and telegraphs. He requested to be transferred to Cuba but was sent several times to Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, rising from telegrapher to captain. As an officer in the Spanish army, he favored its modernization. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1887 he was transferred to Lleida, where he met his wife, Eugènia Lamarca, daughter of Agapito Lamarca, with whom he had three children, Joan, Eugènia and Maria.

On 25 November 1905, some Spanish army officers, in retaliation to a joke in the satirical Catalan journal ¡Cu-Cut!, assaulted and destroyed the offices of the magazine, as well as the offices of the Catalanist journal La Veu de Catalunya. The Spanish Government responded by creating a Law of jurisdictions for the repression of crimes against the homeland and against the army, which caused various political groups to unite to form Solidaritat Catalana ('Catalan Solidarity'). Macià publicly condemned the military's action. As a result, his officials transferred him to Santoña, Cantabria.

He ran as a member of Catalan Solidarity in the election of 21 April 1907 for Barcelona and Les Borges Blanques districts, where his family came from. The resounding victory of this formation (41 of the 44 deputies of Catalonia) took him in Santoña. He was re-elected deputy in 1914, 1916, 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1923. From the Spanish Congress, he began to advocate for the regeneration of Spain, however, during his last years as a politician in Madrid, he moved from Catalan regionalist to left-wing independentist positions.

Independentist leader

In 1919 he founded the Nationalist Democratic Federation (Federació Democràtica Nacionalista), which proposed a federal or confederal solution for Spain, in which Catalonia would enjoy a high degree of self-government. In 1922, Macià founded the independentist party Estat Català.

In September 1923, right after the coup d'etat of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Macià took refuge in Perpignan. In 1926 he attempted an insurrection against the Spanish dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. This uprising, known as the plot of Prats de Molló, had the aim to achieve the independence of Catalonia, was based in Prats de Molló (Roussillon, southern France). Between 50 and 100 Italian mercenaries, mostly from the Garibaldi Legion that fought in the French Foreign Legion during World War I and exiled to France, were hired by Macià to help on the action. This attempt was aborted by the French Gendarmerie, which was able to abort the complot with the help of Ricciotti Garibaldi jr., a spy of Fascist Italy and grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Macià was arrested and convicted to two months in jail and a fine of 100 francs. Despite the failure, Macià and his cause became very popular in Catalonia. He left France for Brussels in March 1927, where his notoriety increased while we remained in Belgium. He founded there, with other exiles, the Casal Català de Brussel·les. In April 1930 he returned to Spain after being pardoned; he was briefly exiled again but returned once more in February 1931.

Republic and Generalitat

In March 1931 Estat Català joined the Catalan Republican Party of Lluís Companys and the L'Opinió Group of Joan Lluhí to found a new party, Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC), maintaining Estat Català a degree of internal autonomy. Francesc Macià became the leader figure of the new party.

On 14 April 1931, two days after the Spanish local elections that caused the exile of king Alfonso XIII of Spain and gave the local majority to the Republican Left of Catalonia, and a few hours before the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in Madrid, from the balcony of the Palau de la Generalitat (then the seat of the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona), Macià proclaimed the "Catalan Republic, expecting that the other peoples of Spain constitute themselves as republics, in order to establish the Iberian Confederation". Macià was appointed as acting president of Catalonia. Three days later, the government of the new Spanish Republic sent three ministers (Fernando de los Ríos, Lluís Nicolau d'Olwer and Marcel·lí Domingo) to Barcelona to negotiate with Macià and the Catalan provisional government. Macià reached an agreement with the ministers, in which the Catalan Republic was renamed Generalitat of Catalonia, becoming an autonomous government within the Spanish Republic. Macià remained as acting President of the Generalitat. The main task of the provisional Generalitat was to redact the Statute of Autonomy, approved by the Spanish Congress after many modifications on 9 September 1932.

After the first Catalan parliamentary election on 20 November 1932 when, after a landslide victory of ERC, he was officially appointed President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, maintaining the position until his death in December 1933.

Death

Macià died due to appendicitis on 25 December 1933 in Barcelona. His funeral caused a massive demonstration of grief. His remains rest in the Plaça de la Fe, the Montjuïc Cemetery, in Barcelona's Montjuïc hill.

Documentation

Part of his personal collection, which consists of documentation image about the president travels throughout Catalonia and family snapshots, is preserved in the National Archive of Catalonia. They are a repository of Mrs. Teresa Peyrí i Macià. The fund contains documents generated and received by Francesc Macià, personal and family documents, correspondence from the period before the Second Spanish Republic (until April 1931) and documentation produced primarily in terms of its political activity. The fund brings together documents relating to his conduct before being named president of the Government of Catalonia (1907-1931): as a Member of Parliament (speeches, proclamations, and conference reports) on Estat Català (organization, reports, proclamations, calls, publications, etc.), on Catalan Army (constitution, rules and organization, information mapping and geographic pathways) and on the corresponding period in the Directory of General Primo de Rivera. Finally, there is the collection of photographs, most made during his presidency.

Another part of Macià's personal archive consists of correspondence written to/by Joan Agell, documents of Centre Català in New York, diverse documentation and press clippings. It is in the Pavelló de la República CRAI Library at the University of Barcelona.

See also

• Plaça de Francesc Macià, Barcelona

References

1. "Presidents of the Generalitat". catalangovernment.eu. Generalitat de Catalunya. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
2. "Presidències i presidents de la Generalitat de Catalunya" [List of Presidents] (PDF). Història de la Generalitat de Catalunya i dels seus presidents vol. III (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2018.
3. "Francesc Macià i Llussà". Catalan Encyclopaedia. 22 March 2014.
4. Masanés, Cristina (October 2009). "Els orígens del mite". Sapiens (in Catalan). 84.
5. ^ Esculies, Joan (October 2012). "El cavaller de l'ideal". Sàpiens (in Catalan). 121. Barcelona: 22–28. ISSN 1695-2014.
6. Esculies, Joan. "Macià, el paradigma dels conversos a l'independentisme". Ara, 25-26 December 2013, p. 12.
7. Esculies, Joan (December 2013). "Macià, el paradigma dels conversors a l'independentisme". Ara (in Catalan): 12.
8. "Qui va trair Macià?" by Jordi Finestres and Giovanni Cattini, Sàpiens volume 84 (October 2009)
9. Feliu, Mercè (6 December 2020). "90 anys del Casal Català de Brussel·les, Jordi Bohigas n'ha recollit la història". L'Unilateral (in Catalan). Retrieved 8 October 2022.
10. "Bowers Sends Condolences". The New York Times. 26 December 1933. p. 15. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
11. Macià's personal archive

External links

• Biography (Catalan)
• Macià proclaiming the Catalan Republic
• Inventari del Fons FP, Subsèrie Francesc Macià, de l CRAI Biblioteca del Pavelló de la República de la Universitat de Barcelona

v t e Catalan nationalism and independence movement
Events	¡Cu-Cut! incident 1918-1919 autonomy campaign Plot of Prats de Molló Catalan Republic (1931) Events of 6 October Operation Garzón Fresno Case 2009–2011 independence referendums support 2010 autonomy protest 2012 independence demonstration 2013 Catalan Way 2014 Catalan Way 2014 self-determination referendum 2015 Free Way 2016 We are ready 2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis 2017 National Day for Yes 2017 Yes Campaign 2017 Operation Anubis 2017 independence referendum reactions 2017 Catalan general strike 2017 Wake Up Europe! 2017 Catalan regional election 2019 trial of independence leaders 2019–2020 protests 2019 Catalan general strike
Concepts	Catalan Countries Principality of Catalonia Republican Generalitat Anti-Catalan sentiment Federalism
Documents	Bases de Manresa (1892) Draft Constitution of the Catalan Republic (1928) Declaration of Sovereignty (23 Jan 2013) White Paper on the National Transition of Catalonia (Sep 2014) Initiation of the Process of Independence (9 Nov 2015) Let Catalans Vote (May 2017) Law on the Referendum on Self-determination (6 Sep 2017) Law of juridical transition (8 Sep 2017) Catalan declaration of independence (10/27 Oct 2017)
People	Valentí Almirall Enric Prat de la Riba Josep Puig i Cadafalch Francesc Macià Lluís Companys Joan Comorera Josep Irla Josep Tarradellas Jordi Pujol Guillem Agulló Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Artur Mas Oriol Junqueras Muriel Casals Carme Forcadell Jordi Sànchez Jordi Cuixart Carles Puigdemont Roger Torrent Anna Gabriel Quim Torra Elisenda Paluzie Pere Aragonès Lluís Llach
Organisations	Pro-independence Association of Municipalities for Independence Assemblea Nacional Catalana Òmnium Cultural Committees for the Defense of the Republic Estat Català Socialist Party of National Liberation† Catalan European Democratic Party† Republican Left of Catalonia Sobiranistes Junts per Catalunya DC MES Popular Unity Candidacy Endavant Poble Lliure Més per Mallorca PSM Més per Menorca PSMe Catalan Solidarity for Independence Reagrupament Republican Left of the Valencian Country Democratic Tsunami Catalan Alliance Autonomist and federalist Assembly of Catalonia† Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia† Democratic Convergence of Catalonia† Catalonia in Common Proposta per les Illes Youth Young Republican Left of Catalonia Nationalist Youth of Catalonia Arran La Forja Maulets†
Sign † marks defunct organisations.

• 1859 births
• 1933 deaths
• People from Vilanova i la Geltrú
• Presidents of the Republican Left of Catalonia
• Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic
• Presidents of the Government of Catalonia
• Spanish army officers
• Soldiers from Catalonia
• Burials at Montjuïc Cemetery