Bonaventura Vallespinosa (Vilafranca del Penedès, 1899 – Reus, Baix Camp, 1987) was a translator, poet and essayist.

After going to live in Reus, he wrote for the publications La columna de foc and Llaç. Besides working in his profession as a doctor, he was very active in cultural circles and as a translator. He made contact with the members of the Reus Readers Centre and, in 1955, was appointed president of the Literature Section from whence he promoted Catalan literature and theatre.

He produced more than sixty translations, many of which were never published, mainly of works by French and Italian playwrights such as Molière, Ionesco, Camus and Pirandello. His translation of the latter's work So It is (If You Think So), titled in Catalan És així, si us ho sembla, was awarded the 1980 Josep Maria de Sagarra Prize for Theatre Translation.

He also translated novels and essays, including Cesare Pavese’s The Fine Summer (Bell estiu, 1967) and Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus (El mite de Sísif, 1987). His translations were precise and very faithful to the original texts, and he was an excellent poetry translator. He was awarded the Sant Jordi (Saint George) Prize of the Generalitat (Government) of Catalonia for his outstanding translation of Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando furioso (Orland Furiós).



Web page: Francesc Viñas for AELC.
Documentation: Vallespinosa Collection of the Centre de Lectura de Reus (Reus Readers Centre).
Translated by Julie Wark.