Give me 5....famous French Catalans

 This lot will probably be names you recognise if you live in the P-O, given that they all have squares, roads, restaurants, museums and even shops named after them but do you know what they are famous for? Here’s a little bit of background some of French Catalonia’s most famous sons.

 1. François Arago (1786 – 1853)

 It’s not everyone who can boast craters on the moon and Mars, as well as one of Neptune’s rings, named after them, but this guy can! François Arago was born in Estagel, to a family with political and military connections and was, by all accounts, a man of many talents.

His illustrious career kicked off in 1805 when he was asked to help measure the meridian, a highly skilled mathematical exercise to determine the exact length of the metre. Despite being arrested in Spain as a spy, Arago succeeded in escaping to France on his third attempt, his logbook of mathematical calculations intact, and received a hero’s welcome.

On the back of this success, at the tender age of 23, Arago was nominated a member of the prestigious French Academy of Sciences and worked at the Paris Observatory for the rest of his career, eventually becoming its Director. He entered the world of politics in 1830 when he became a deputy for the P-O, and later Paris, supporting diverse causes such as the abolition of slavery in the French colonies and the development of the railways and the telegraph.

Arago is attributed to be the first person to construct an electromagnet. Other important scientific achievements were the discovery of rotatory magnetism, early discoveries on the corpuscular theory of light, contributions to measuring the diameter of the planets and work on the velocity of sound. In recognition of his achievements, the French Academy of Sciences has awarded the Prix Arago since 1893.

 2. Joseph Joffre (1852 – 1931)

 Unsurprisingly, many roads, bridges and squares throughout France bear the name of this military hero from World War One. More bizarrely, he also has a mountain in Western Canada named after him! Joffre was born in Rivesaltes and entered the army at the age of 18.

Joffre, charmingly nicknamed Papa Joffre by his soldiers, was Commander-in-Chief of the French army at the outbreak of the First World War. The jury appears to be out over whether he was a military genius but he stepped up to the mark when it was necessary, rallied his troops and secured a key early victory for France in the Battle of the Marne. This battle ended Germany’s month-long initial offensive into the north of France and put a halt to the enemy’s advance on Paris.

Joffre’s greatest asset was his unflappability – this is a man who faced with the news of rapidly advancing troops calmly stated “Never mind. They are not going to take Paris”. He was right and fortunately so, as failure to win this battle could easily have meant an early German victory in the war. Instead four years of bitter trench warfare on the Western Front ensued.

Joffre was promoted to Marshal of France in December 1916 but towards the end of the war his duties became ceremonial rather than strategic.  He retired in 1919 and was appointed a member of the Académie Française shortly afterwards. His memoirs were published in 1932, one year after his death.

3. Aristide Maillol (1861 – 1944)

 Born in Banyuls-sur-Mer, Maillol’s sculptures are featured in some of the world’s greatest art museums and he is considered by some to be as talented as more famous masters such as Rodin, Giacometti, Moore and Picasso, yet his name remains virtually unknown by the world at large.

Maillol began his career as a painter, studying at the Beaux-Arts and was in his 40s before he became a sculptor. His work is a testament of praise to the female body, combining a classical Greek style with a more detailed modern understanding. His gorgeous statues are curvaceous and sensuous yet somehow restrained.

Maillol is buried in the town of his birth at the house where he lived from 1910 until his death. La Métairie is now a museum where you can visit his tomb. You can also check out some of his work in the town including “Monument aux Morts Pacifiste” which can be found behind the Mairie and “Jeune Fille Allongée” on the road bearing his name. His muse, Dina Vierny, also set up a museum in Paris dedicated to his work – www.museemaillol.com.

4. Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659 – 1743)

 Born with the snappy name of Hyacinthe François Honoré Mathias Pierre André Jean Rigau y Ros, Rigaud was born in Perpignan and was a prolific and highly successful portrait painter of the Baroque period.  

Initially taught by his artist father, who clearly knew what he was doing with a paintbrush, Rigaud won the Royal Academy’s Prix de Rome at the age of 23, entitling him to an all-expenses paid year in a Roman palace to study art courtesy of the King. Showing extreme self-belief, Rigaud turned this amazing opportunity down and set up a portrait studio in Paris instead. Fortunately for him, it turned out to be a good decision and soon he was painting Paris’s movers and shakers, including Louis XIV’s brother.

In 1688 he received his first royal commission and went on to work for the court, producing portraits of Louis XIV, the most famous of which was painted in 1701 and now hangs in the Louvre. Rigaud became so popular that at the height of his success he was overseeing a team of assistants producing up to 40 portraits a year with the great man himself painting in the faces! He became a member of the Academy as a historical painter in January 1700 and a noble of Perpignan in 1709. Rigaud’s paintings are considered to be a unique record of contemporary fashions during the Baroque Period.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts Hyacinthe Rigaud in Perpignan was officially dedicated to the painter in 1959 to celebrate his tercentenary. The museum features some of his work as well as works by Maillol and fellow Catalan from the other side of the border, Picasso.

5. Louis Torcatis (1904 – 1940)

There is something irresistibly romantic about this Catalan Resistance Fighter - a man who when captured by the Germans, jumped off a train en route to a prisoner of war camp returning home by bike and train; who operated under many different aliases including Torreilles, Balent, Bouloc, Thubert and Dancla; and whose dying words are reputed to be “Resist, I am dying for France”.

Born in Tautavel and raised in Pia, where he later taught and became headmaster in the primary school which now bears his name, Torcatis became politically active in the Communist Party. After his narrow escape from internment in Germany, he joined the active resistance and held key roles in various Resistance groups while continuing his career with teaching posts in Passa and Saint-Estève.

Throughout the war he became more and more involved in militant activities against the Germans and the collaborators, eventually being appointed a Lieutenant Colonel in Charles de Gaulle’s Forces Francaises de l’Intérieur.

His activities did not go unnoticed by the Germans and their collaborators, and Torcatis became a wanted man. He was eventually ambushed and caught in the Tarn region. Even when handcuffed he didn’t give up and was shot down whilst attempting to escape. Left for dead, he managed to return to his comrades but died shortly afterwards, joining the legions of heroic men who lost their lives fighting for freedom during the Second World War.     

There is a monument dedicated to Torcatis in the Place de Catalogne, and a bookshop in Perpignan which was set up by his widow after the war still remains today. The Librairie Torcatis is on rue de Mailly.