Victor Balaguer

Catalan poet, playwright, and historian, born in Barcelona, NE Spain. He was a major contributor to the restoration of the Jocs Florals and Catalan Renaissance. His plays were scarcely more than sequences of dramatic monologues with scanty plots, but his Tragedias (1876) in Catalan made the important plays of Àngel Guimerà possible. Of his poems, the most characteristic are the religious ‘La Verge de Montserrat’, the Catalan patriotic poem ‘Lo llibre de la patria’, and the Petrarchesque ‘Lo llibre de amor’. His many historical works, mostly in Castilian, include Los frailes y sus conventos (1851), Historia de Cataluña (1860–3), and the Historia de los trovadores (1879).

Víctor Balaguer (1824—1901), Catalan Spanish politician and author, was born at Barcelona on December 11 1824, and was educated at the university of his native city.

See also Victor Balaguer (singer), Eurovision Song Contest 1962 contestant