HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 192

describe himself henceforth as a “libertar-
ian” and humanist. A legacy from a former
student enabled him to return to Spain in
1901 and open the Escuela Moderna (Mod-
ern School) in B ARCELONA . His goal in this
progressive institution was to build charac-
ter and to transform his students into
humane and responsible citizens. He sought,
in his own words, to shape individuals who
were consistently devoted to a set of ideals
and principles without displaying a public
character at odds with their true feelings. In
his school Ferrer not only mingled boys and
girls but mixed young people of working-
class and middle-class origins in order to
promote understanding and solidarity. Fer-
rer also printed a series of pamphlets that
were widely distributed to students, factory
hands, farmers, and shop assistants. Simply
written from a reformist perspective, these
booklets were often the first pieces of seri-
ous literature that ordinary Spaniards had
ever read. Ferrer's unconventional ideas
about the organization of his school and the
emphasis of its teachings alarmed conserva-
tives, particularly among the leaders of the
Catholic Church. His espousal of republi-
canism, antimilitarism, and anticlericalism
made him a marked man, although attempts
to interfere with his teaching and writing
proved unsuccessful.
In 1906 a member of the Escuela Mod-
erna staff attempted to assassinate the king
and queen as they were riding in a public
procession in Madrid. The unsuccessful
assassin committed suicide, leaving papers
in which he denounced Ferrer for his aban-
donment of anarchism and his moderate
views. The educator was arrested on suspi-
cion of complicity and detained for nearly a
year until judges ruled that he had no prior
knowledge of the attack and ordered his

release. Ferrer returned to teaching, but in
1909 he was arrested again following the
radical revolt, primarily fomented by anar-
chists, in B ARCELONA . After a week of fierce
fighting, with many deaths among both
rebels and bystanders, the military rounded
up all the usual suspects. There was no spe-
cific evidence of Ferrer's complicity in the
events of this “Tragic Week,” and testimony
even placed him far from the scene of the
uprising. Despite these facts he was con-
victed of insurrection and treason. Although
there were protests from all over Spain and
western Europe, Ferrer was condemned to
death and executed.
The judicial murder of Ferrer, as many
termed it, was long a focal point of anticon-
servative and anticlerical rhetoric through-
out the Western world. The schoolmaster
who had offended the powerful by his
advocacy of unpopular ideas was hailed as
an anarchist martyr, with buildings adorned
with his name and statues dedicated to his
memory in many cities. Only the coming of
the Great War and then Spain's brutal civil
struggle in 1936 would gradually dim the
memory of his life and death.

Fialho de Almeida, José Valentim
(1857-1911)
Portuguese writer
A native of Vila de Frades in the A LENTEJO
region, Fialho de Almeida attended medical
school in L ISBON during which he first
turned to short story writing to cover his
expenses. He published collections in 1881
and 1882 and attracted attention by his use
of fantastic and poetic themes. Between
1889 and 1893 he published a series of sto-
ries under the overall title Os gatos (The
cats). In these pieces he combined a satirical