Martí de Riquer i Morera

In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is de Riquer and the second or maternal family name is Morera; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".

The Most Excellent
Martí de Riquer i Morera
8th Count of Casa Dávalos
Born(1914-05-03)3 May 1914
Barcelona, Spain
Died17 September 2013(2013-09-17) (aged 99)
Barcelona, Spain
Occupations
AwardsCreu de Sant Jordi
Seat H of the Real Academia Española
In office
16 May 1965 – 17 September 2013
Preceded byFederico García Sanchiz [es]
Succeeded byFélix de Azúa

Martí de Riquer i Morera, 8th Count of Casa Dávalos (Catalan pronunciation: [məɾˈti ðə riˈkej muˈɾeɾə], Spanish: Martín de Riquer y Morera) (3 May 1914[1] – 17 September 2013)[2] was a Spanish literary historian and Romance philologist, a recognised international authority in the field. His writing career lasted from 1934 to 2004. He was also a nobleman and Grandee of Spain.[3]

Early life

Riquer was born in Barcelona in 1914, the grandson of Alexandre de Riquer i Ynglada, from whom he rehabilitated the noble title Count of Casa Dávalos in 1956, because it was in situation of expiry. He fought in the Spanish Civil War for the Nationalist side, in the Terç de Requetès de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat and later the propaganda service under Dionisio Ridruejo's direction.

In 1977, he was appointed a senator in the Cortes Constituyentes by the Spanish king Juan Carlos I. He was also appointed chief of the Romance literature section of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, "Superior Council of Scientific Investigations").

Scholarship and recognition

Riquer was a member of the Real Academia Española since 1965, president of the Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, and corresponding member of numerous foreign institutions. He was the emeritus chair of Literaturas Románicas (Romance Literature) at the University of Barcelona, which he held from 1950 to 1984. He was viceroy of the university in 1965–6 and viceroy of the Autonomous University of Barcelona from 1970 to 1976. He is the founder and honorary president of the Sociedad Roncesvals, dedicated to the study of the chanson de geste and cantar de gesta.

Among the Romance languages Riquer studied were Occitan, French, Spanish, and Catalan. Specifically, he has written important and influential works on Don Quixote, the chansons de geste, the medieval novel (notably Amadis de Gaula), the troubadours, courtly love, the history of Catalan literature, and the social phenomenon of the knight-errant. He studied the influence of Ausiàs March, Juan Boscan, and the work of Miguel de Cervantes. Perhaps his most ambitious work was Historia de la Literatura Universal ("History of Universal Literature"), in collaboration José María Valverde. He and his disciple Albert Hauf were the most prominent authorities on courtly love in Spain in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Riquer was the recipient of many honours later in life. In 1962 he received the Premio March de Cataluña, in 1990 he received the fourth Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, in 1991 he received the Premio Nacional de Ensayo from the Ministry of Culture for his monograph Aproximació al Tirant lo Blanc, in 1997 he received the Premio Príncipe de Asturias de Ciencias Sociales, in 1999 he received the Premi Lletra d'Or for Quinze generacions d'una família catalana, and in 2000 he received the Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1975.[4] In 2005 he was made a Grandee of Spain by King Juan Carlos I. He received Doctor honoris causa degrees (honorary doctor) from the University of Rome and the University of Liège.

Published works

His own

  • L'humanisme català (1388–1494) Barcelona: Barcino, 1934.
  • Humanisme i decadència en les lletres catalanes Barcelona: Revista de Catalunya, 1934.
  • Comentaris crítics sobre clàssics catalans Barcelona: Barcino, 1935.
  • Manual de heráldica española Barcelona: Apolo, 1942.
  • La lírica de los trovadores Madrid: CSIC, 1948.
  • Los cantares de gesta franceses, Madrid: Gredos, 1952.
  • Historia de la literatura catalana, Barcelona: Ariel, 1964–1966.
  • Historia de la literatura universal, Barcelona: Noguer, 1957–1959. (in collaboration with José María Valverde)
  • Caballeros andantes españoles, Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 1967.
  • L'arnès del cavaller: armes i armadures catalanes medievals, Barcelona: Ariel, 1968.
  • Cavalleria: fra realtà e letteratura nel Quattrocento, Bari: Adriatica, 1968.
  • El combate imaginario: Las cartas de batalla de Joanot Martorell, Barcelona: Seix Barral, 1972. (in collaboration with Mario Vargas Llosa)
  • Los trovadores, Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
  • Heràldica catalana des de l'any 1150 al 1550, Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1983.
  • Vida i aventures de don Pero Maça, Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1984.
  • Heráldica Castellana en tiempos de los Reyes Católicos, Quaderns Crema, 1986.
  • Estudios sobre el Amadís de Gaula, Barcelona: Sirmio, 1987.
  • Cervantes, Passamonte y Avellaneda, Barcelona: Sirmio, 1988.
  • Cervantes en Barcelona, Barcelona: Sirmio, 1989.
  • Aproximació al Tirant lo Blanc, Quaderns Crema, 1990
  • Tirant lo Blanch, Novela de historia y de ficción, Barcelona: Sirmio, 1992.
  • Les poesies del trobador Guillem de Berguedà, Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1996.
  • Quinze generacions d'una família catalana, Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1998.
  • Llegendes històriques catalanes, Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 2000.
  • Para leer a Cervantes, Barcelona: Acantilado, 2003.
  • Vida y amores de los trovadores y sus damas, Barcelona: Acantilado, 2004.

Edited works

Notes

  1. ^ "Decreto de 14 de mayo de 1956 por el que se rehabilita, sin perjuicio de tercero de mejor derecho, el título de Conde de Casa Dávalos a favor de don Martín de Riquer y Morera" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). 11 June 1956. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Mor als 99 anys l'escriptor, filòleg i humanista Martí de Riquer". 324.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Real Decreto 447/2005, de 18 de abril, por el que se otorga la dignidad de Grande de España para unir al título de Conde de Casa Dávalos a don Martín de Riquer y Morera" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). 23 April 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

References

Spanish nobility
Preceded by Count of Casa Dávalos
11 June 1956 – 17 September 2013 		Incumbent
Preceded by
New creation
 Grandee
23 April 2005 – 17 September 2013 		Incumbent