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On Tuesday, June 11, the heirs of the poet Rafael Ferrer i Bigné donated the family archive to the University of Valencia so that it could be consulted by researchers and university students interested in the history of Valencian literature.
The agreement with the rector was signed by his great-granddaughters, Isabel Soler (director of the Joan Reglà Humanitats Library until his retirement) and María Paz Soler (former director of the González Martí National Museum of Ceramics.)
Rafael Ferrer i Bigné lawyer, scholar and poet of the moderate generation of the Renaixença, was born on January 12, 1836 and died on February 20, 1892 in Valencia. He devoted himself to historical research and writing, forming part of the literary group linked to the Renaixença, a Valencian-style cultural movement led by the poet, journalist and politician Teodor Llorente in Valencia.
As a journalist specializing in cultural and legal information, he wrote in La Opinión, El Eco del Turia, The Valencian Enlightenment, The Literary Museum, La Violeta, Lo Gai Saber, etc.
In 1866 he was part of the founding editorial of the newspaper Las Provincias, with whose director and owner, Teodor Llorente, he always maintained a close collaboration and friendship. He directed the annual magazine Almanac de Valencia, in 1864 and 1865.
In 1868 he joined the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres in Barcelona and in 1871 he was appointed maintainer of the Jocs Florals of the city of Barcelona.
With his group of friends (Pizcueta, Llorente, Boix, Labaila and Querol) he promoted in 1878 the creation of the Valencian society Lo Rat Penat, of which he was president between 1881 and 1882.
This year 2019 the journalist Jaime Millás Covas has published his biography, "Memòria d'un poet de la Renaixença, Rafael Ferrer i Bigné (1836-1892)", published jointly by Editorial Sargantana and the Institució Alfons el Magnànim, the biography has been also published in Spanish version in the Personajes Ilustres Collection.
