Josep Vicenç Foix

Josep Vicenç Foix i Mas (Catalan pronunciation: [ ʒuˈzɛp viˈsɛns ˈfoʃ ]) (Barcelona, 28 January 1893 - 29 January 1987) was a Spanish poet, writer, and essayist in Catalan. He usually signed his work by using the abbreviation J.V. Foix.

Born in Sarrià, Barcelona, Foix was a son of one of the best-known bakers in the whole city. He started his studies of Law, but left them after the second course at university. From then, he worked in the familiar business as well as he read classic masterpieces of literature by authors such as Lord Byron, Dante Alighieri or Charles Baudelaire. Indeed, Foix never forbade the place where he had been born, not even when the Spanish Civil War ended. Nonetheless, Foix always had been a liberal writer who introduced some avantgarde ideology in Catalonia.

In 1916 began to collaborate with La Revista and started to be interested in avantgarde art. He worked among other publications like Trossos, La Cònsola (1919–1920) or La Publicitat (1923–1936), where he worked as an art director.

At the end of the Spanish Civil War, Foix returned to the familiar business, and let forgotten for some time his artistic purpose. He also compiled his total poetic work, and continued helping young artist related to avanatgarde, between which Joan Brossa must be named.

On 25 May 1962, he became a member of Institut d'Estudis Catalans. His popularity went on growing, thanks to Joan Manuel Serrat and his song És quan dormo que hi veig clar, (a version of one of Foix's poems).

He received many different awards during his life. The Gold Medal of Generalitat de Catalunya (Medalla d'Or de la Generalitat de Catalunya, 1981) or the Honour Award in Catalan Letters (Premi d'Honor de les Lletres catalanes, 1984) are some of them. In 1984, the Parliament of Catalonia proposed him for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

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