(Barcelona, 1844-1904)
 
Philosopher, historian and stenographer, Josep Balari i Jovany graduated with a Bachelor of Law and Arts from the University of Barcelona. He went on to become a practicing lawyer (1869), and was a Greek language professor for some twenty years from 1881. Studying under Milà i Fontanals, Rubió i Ors and Francesc X. Llorens i Barba, he became a language aficionado specialising in the Rhaeto-Romance languages, and published medieval literary texts (Jafudà, Eiximenis). In 1888, he joined the Acadèmia de Ciències Naturals i Arts, followed by the Acadèmia de Bones Lletres in Barcelona – which he chaired from 1893 to 1901. It was here that he created the orthography rules (1884) that were generally used until the rules of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans were created.

His most important work was Orígenes históricos de Cataluña [Historic Origins of Catalonia], for which he received the Martorell Prize (1897). This book analyses documents from the era of the Counts in Catalonia (ix-xii centuries), with the purpose of finding the etymology and meaning of toponyms, and highlighting those elements that clarify the Reconquest; which account the depopulation and subsequent repopulation, the birth of feudalism and the domestic and economic life. He bequeathed materials for a Catalan dictionary, which the University of Barcelona began to publish posthumously from 1926-36 (eight volumes, up to “G”), and was also working on publishing a historical grammar book at the time of his death.

Orígenes históricos de Cataluña (Font: Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes)