ʻLʼesperit del llibreʼ, born out of the project Theatrum Sapientiae dedicated to Jordi Rubió, now in book stores
Theatrum Sapientiae project, organized by La UB Divulga, aimed to bring the legacy left by Jordi Rubió i Balager, one of the biggest Catalan humanists of the 20th century, who excelled in the fields of philology, library science and historiography of Catalan literature. The author and director of the theatre play, Gaston Gilabert, has now published its script in book form and it can be found in the main book stores.
Theatrum Sapientiae project, organized by La UB Divulga, aimed to bring the legacy left by Jordi Rubió i Balager, one of the biggest Catalan humanists of the 20th century, who excelled in the fields of philology, library science and historiography of Catalan literature. The author and director of the theatre play, Gaston Gilabert, has now published its script in book form and it can be found in the main book stores.
This work sets the narration in the last night Rubió spent at the National Library of Catalonia, before Barcelona fell in francoist soldiery hands. The book remembers some of the chapters that influenced decisions in his life and which have marked the history of Catalonia, its institutions and research on humanities. The plot of the book is surprising for its validity and parallelisms that are established with the current situation, despite all the years that have passed by.
Gaston Gilabert holds a doctorate in Literature and Cultural Studies and teaches at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Barcelona and at the Taller de Músics School for Higher Education (ESEM). Also, he graduated in Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature, and in Law. He gave conferences on Dramatic Literature around the world (Buenos Aires, New York, Montreal, Venice). The AulaScenica of the University of Barcelona was founded under his supervision and he is now president of the Federación Española de Teatro Universitario (Spanish Federation for University Theatre).
Specialized in the Spanish Golden Age, he edited Cervantes and Lope de Vega and directed many theatre plays about old and modern classics (Shakespeare, Bernhard, Cervantes, Espriu, Strindberg, Sartre, etc.) and his own plays: La més forta (UB, 2012), La gàbia de fum (Kursaal Theatre, Manresa, 2013), Ramon Margalef i lʼaventura de la vida (UB, 2013), Diàlegs de la incomunicació and Agent Especial 0070 (Auditorium of Vilafranca del Penedès, 2014), El cantar de Fray Cebolla (UB, 2014) giving homage to Boccaccioʼs Decameron, Per les perles (Auditorium of Vilafranca del Penedès, 2015), Mirall de bojos (UB, 2016) and Performance Dada (UB, 2016). Lʼesperit del llibre is the first theatre play he publishes.
Jordi Rubió i Balaguerʼs figure
Jordi Rubió was born in Barcelona in 1887 in a family that was fully dedicated to recover and share the Catalan literary legacy. His father was Antoni Rubió i Lluch, numerary member of the Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona, professor of Catalan literature at the Catalan University Studies, vice-president of the first International Congress for Catalan Language and member and president of the Institute for Catalan Studies. His grandfather was the illustrious Joaquim Rubió i Ors, also known as lo Gaiter del Llobregat, apostle of the Catalan cultural Renaissance and former rector of the University of Barcelona.
Rubió i Balaguer studied Philosophy and Arts at the UB and was one of the founders of the National Library of Catalonia in 1914, therefore he became the director of the first public library in Spain. Moreover, he organized the Popular Library Network, and in 1920 he adapted the universal decimal classification -the bibliography classification system- in Catalonia and Spain. He also organized and directed the Front Library Service during the Civil War, and drove initiatives such as the creation of a mobile library bus. Regarding research, his most outstanding works are the ones on Ramon Llull and medieval literature, or his time leading the encyclopedic dictionary when he was working in Salvat publishing house.
The activity Theatrum Sapientiae is supported by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) - Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.