Conxita Julià

Conxita Julià i Farrés (; 11 June 1920

The Companys handkerchief In 1934, Lluís Companys, with the rest of the Catalan government, was imprisoned for his role in the political rebellion known as the "events of October the 6th". Initially they were held on the prison ship Uruguai in Barcelona, which the fourteen-year-old Conxita visited with her father to show their support. They were later moved to a prison in Cádiz in southern Spain. Conxita wrote to Companys in Cádiz, sending him a supportive poem called "Al meu aire". He replied to her, and they exchanged several more letters, hers in verse, during his imprisonment. In 1936, following his release by the new left-wing Spanish government, he returned to Barcelona and his old job as president of the Catalan autonomous government.

On 14 April that year Companys attended a ceremony at the grave of Francesc Macià in Montjuïc cemetery, where Conxita approached him and identified herself. Companys embraced her warmly, and when she asked him for a memento, he presented her with the white silk handkerchief from the breast pocket of his jacket, which was one of his famous symbols, exhorting her to "guard it, and love Catalonia". It was created by Spanish sculptor . Although it is named for Companys and the inscription only mentions Companys, its main feature is a two-metre-high figure of Conxita Julià at about 20 years old (her age at the time of Companys's execution), holding a handkerchief and a rose and leaning on a memorial plaque to Companys.

Poetry and other activities Poetry by Julià was published throughout her life in various magazines and anthologies, such as Tramuntane (Perpignan), and performances, such as at the (in Barcelona). She was also a keen hillwalker.

Published works Silenci Sonor: Antología Poètica de Conxita Julià i Farrés (2004). Records de la meva infància: les passejades amb el pare (2007). Published by Barcelona City Council. Google Books