Francisco Ferrer Guardia

Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (January 10 1859 - October 12 1909), known as Francisco Ferrer y Guardia in Spanish and often simply as Francisco Ferrer was a Spanish free-thinker.

Related Topics:
January 10 - 1859 - October 12 - 1909 - Spanish - Spanish - Free-thinker

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He was born in Allela (a small town near Barcelona) to catholic parents. A follower of Spanish republican leader Ruiz Zorilla, Ferrer was exiled to Paris with his wife and children in 1885. Divorcing in 1899, he remarried a wealthy parisian teacher shortly thereafter.

Related Topics:
Allela - Barcelona - Catholic - Ruiz Zorilla - Paris - 1885 - 1899

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In 1901 he returned to Spain and opened la Escuela Moderna (The Modern School) to teach middle-class children (then) radical social values. In 1906 he was arrested on suspicion of involvement with an attack on King Alphonso XIII and released uncharged over a year later. His school failed and closed while he was incarcerated.

Related Topics:
1901 - La Escuela Moderna - 1906 - Alphonso XIII

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Early in the summer of 1908, after his release from jail, he wrote the story of the Modern School. The work was entitled The Origins and Ideals of the Modern School and was translated into English by Joseph McCabe and published by the Knickerbocker Press in 1913.

Related Topics:
1908 - Joseph McCabe - Knickerbocker Press - 1913

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Following the declaration of martial law in 1909, he was arrested and executed without any proof by firing squad at Montjuich Fortress in Barcelona on October 12.

Related Topics:
1909 - Montjuich Fortress - October 12

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Shortly after his execution, numerous supporters of Ferrer's ideas in the United States formed what were called Modern Schools, or Ferrer Schools, modeled after la Escuela Moderna. The first and most notable Modern School was formed in New York City in 1911.

Related Topics:
United States - Modern School - New York City - 1911

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