Albert Janney: Making language the center

When we take a comprehensive look at Albert Jané's contribution to the Catalan language and culture, we are impressed. Under the adverse conditions imposed by the Franco regime, Albert Jani, together with Joan Triado, Josep Tremoleda, Joaquim Carpo, Josep Valverdo, Bellarin Pais…, carried out a persistent, fruitful, successful and uniquely effective work in the service of knowledge and science. “Using the Catalan language.

Professor of the Catalan language and author of grammatical works, language guide columns in the press, and a thesaurus now accessible online… Jani became a point of reference for the learning and good use of the Catalan language, and ended up being a relevant member of the Catalan Linguistics Department of the Institute of Catalan Studies. But besides this grammatical and lexical dimension, what makes his profile even more remarkable is his association from 1963 to 1997 with the magazine Caval Fort, which he ran between 1979 and 1997. Storyteller, screenwriter and translator, his contribution to the production of meaningful works Promoting proficiency in the Catalan language among children and young people is enormous. It is known, moreover, that he was the one who thought of naming the blue characters in the famous comic series The Smurfs.

The good results of the language normalization process promoted, under the initial direction of Aina Mol, Isidore Mari and Miquel Strobel, by the Government of Catalonia, cannot be explained without the fruitful seeds already carried out by such eminent figures as Albert Jani, who, far from concluding his work In the service of the language by restoring the institutions of self-government, he continued to work vigorously and with good judgment for the same purpose and through various initiatives. At this time, in the face of a scenario of uncertainty, it is appropriate, as is currently the case with the Honorary Prize for Catalan Literature awarded by Òmnium Culture, to be well aware, recognize and demand those who have given us a lesson in cohesion, dignity and unwavering commitment to language and homeland. Gratitude and admiration to Albert Janney.