Jordi Pujol facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jordi Pujol
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Official portrait, 1980
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| 126th President of the Government of Catalonia | |
| In office 29 April 1980 – 18 December 2003 |
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| First Counselor | Artur Mas (2001–2003) |
| Preceded by | Josep Tarradellas |
| Succeeded by | Pasqual Maragall |
| Minister without Portfolio | |
| In office 5 December 1977 – 24 April 1980 |
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| President | Josep Tarradellas |
| Member of the Parliament of Catalonia | |
| In office 10 April 1980 – 23 September 2003 |
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| Constituency | Barcelona |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| In office 1 July 1977 – 12 March 1980 |
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| Constituency | Barcelona |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 June 1930 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Political party | CDC (1974–2016) |
| Spouse |
Marta Ferrusola
(m. 1956; died 2024) |
| Children | 7 |
| Signature |  |
Jordi Pujol i Soley (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈʒɔɾði puˈʒɔl i suˈlɛj], born 9 June 1930) is a retired Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003.
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Early life
Pujol was born in Barcelona, studied at the German School of Barcelona and received a medical degree from the University of Barcelona. During his college years, he joined different activist groups that were seeking to rebuild the ideal Catalonia that the Spanish Civil War and Franco's dictatorship had undermined. Among these organizations were Grup Torras i Bages (where he met other activists such as Jaume Carner or Joan Reventós), Comissió Abat Oliva, Grup Pere Figuera or Cofradia de la Mare de Déu de Montserrat de Virtèlia.
In 1960, in the course of an homage to Catalan poet Joan Maragall, held in Palau de la Música Catalana, part of the audience sang the Cant de la Senyera (The Song of the Flag in English) despite being previously prohibited by the Spanish authorities. Pujol was among those who organized this protest, and he was captured and detained for his protests against the regime of Francisco Franco.
Invention of Neobacitrin ointment
As a physician, Pujol was inventor of the antibiotic ointment Neobacitrin while working in the family-run laboratory Fides Cuatrecasas. The ointment went on to achieve great success and is still used today.
Political career and President of Catalonia
In 1974, Pujol founded the political party called Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia in English), of which he was the first Secretary. The political party was not legalized until 1977, during the Spanish transition to democracy after Franco's death in November 1975.
From 1977 to 1980, Pujol was Minister without portfolio in the Provisional government of Catalonia, presided by Josep Tarradellas. In 1977 he led Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya, a coalition of Catalan parties that were trying to approve the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. In the Spanish general election of 1977 he was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies, representing Barcelona. Pujol was re-elected at the 1979 General Election but resigned from the parliament in 1980.
On 20 March 1980, the first Parliament of Catalonia elections after Franco's regime were held. The Catalan nationalist party Convergència i Unió (coalition of CDC and Democratic Union of Catalonia) won the elections and Pujol was elected President of the Generalitat de Catalunya on 24 April 1980. He was reelected in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1999.
Pujol is a supporter of European integration. In 1985, he started a collaboration with Edgar Faure in the Council of the Regions of Europe (CRE), which would later become the Assembly of European Regions (AER). Pujol was the President of the Assembly of European Regions from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, he was made an officer of the National Order of Quebec for strengthening ties between Quebec and Catalonia.
Pujol retired in 2003. He left leadership of the party (CDC) to Artur Mas. That year, he gave the Biblioteca de Catalunya a bibliographic collection of more than 16,000 documents from his presidency.
Pujol and Catalan nationalism
During the last decades of the Franco regime and his 23 years as President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pujol leant towards the majority tendency in Catalan nationalism, which, instead of seeking a fully independent republic, intended to work towards a federalized Spain that would, according to Pujol, recognize Catalonia "as a country, as a collective with its own personality and differences," and a "guarantee that her own identity be respected". With the conservative People's Party opposing the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, however, as well as the recognition for the language in the east of Aragon, Pujol has stated that, at least shortly before the Spanish transition to democracy, "there is more aggression towards Catalonia than ever", and that Catalans can "no longer hope for anything from the Spanish state".
A lifelong federalist, Pujol has recently become very disenfranchised by the Spanish political arena. He also has recently stated, regarding the recent surge of Catalan separatism that more people than ever want independence, "and they have the right to want it."
Personal life
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He married Marta Ferrusola in Santa Maria de Montserrat in 1956. The couple had seven children. During COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, on 15 January 2021 Pujol and his wife Marta tested positive for COVID-19 and, without serious symptoms, they were confined to their home in Barcelona. Marta died on 8 July 2024 at the age of 89 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for six years.
See also
In Spanish: Jordi Pujol para niños
