Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia
| Francisco Ferrer Guardia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
10 January 1859 Alella, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | 13 October 1909 (aged 50) Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
Francisco Ferrer Guardia (10 January 1859 – 13 October 1909) was a Catalan anarchist.
Following the declaration of martial law in 1909 during the Tragic Week, having been found guilty under a military tribunal in which no solid evidence was brought against him, on 13 October, Francisco Ferrer i Guardia was arrested and then executed by firing squad at Montjuich Fortress.
At the age of 50, his last confession was "Aim well, my friends, you are not responsible. I am innocent; long live la Escuela Moderna".
Ferrer was the founder of the Escuela Moderna, a non-compulsory primary and secondary school. Ferrer's pedagogical outlook — in large part — was inspired by the works of William Godwin and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, both of whom firmly rejected the idea of education brought about by means of compulsion.
During Ferrer's life, la Escuela Moderna attracted international attention and prompted visits from George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy was so inspired by Ferrer's school that he started his own in Russia, which in 1921 served as inspiration for A. S. Neill's creation of today's Summerhill School in Suffolk, England.
Ferrer was born in Alella (a small town near Barcelona) to Roman Catholic parents. He was sent to work at a Barcelona firm at the age of 15. The owner of the firm was an anti-cleric and is said to have had a great influence on Ferrer. A follower of Spanish republican leader Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, Ferrer was exiled to Paris with his wife and children in 1885. Divorcing in 1899, he remarried a wealthy Parisian teacher shortly thereafter.
In 1901 he returned to Spain and opened the Escuela Moderna (The Modern School) to teach middle-class children (then) radical social values. In 1906 he was arrested on suspicion of involvement with the anarchist Mateu Morral's attack on King Alfonso XIII and released uncharged over a year later. His school failed and closed while he was incarcerated.
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