Eduard Vivancos i Garcia

Eduardo Vivancos Garcia (19 September 1920 – 30 December 2020) was an Esperantist mainly active in anarchist circles. He wrote and spoke mainly in Spanish, Catalan and Esperanto.

Life Early years The son of Domingo Vivancos Eduardo Vivancos (who sometimes went by the Esperanto version of his name Vivankos) was born in Barcelona, into a working-class family interested in politics and social activism. In July 1934 he completed his studies at elementary school and was soon hired on as an apprentice, roughly two months before his fourteenth birthday. In that same year in September he started studying in the evenings in a workers school (Escuela del Trabajo). While there he encountered a group of very active young people who were members of The Iberian Federation of Libertarian Youth (FIJL), Vivancos was member of that committee as a delegate for what was called the Spanish federation. and international gathering of SAT members from many countries from around the world. This was the first time the SAT had held its congress outside of Europe.

While living in Toronto, Vivancos became active in ADEC ("Asociación Democrática Española Canadiense") However, he would remain in Canada, and died in Toronto.

Athletics In addition to his commitment to Anarchism and Esperanto, Vivancos was a committed runner "The first 300 metres I ran the fastest, as much as possible, first of all ... ", he remembered. "When I passed the first kilometre, I ran past half of the other runners ... It wasn't a clever activity, but it was great lesson". He was going to be a participant in the 1936 People's Olympiad in Barcelona, until the rebellion of the Spanish army stopped the games from happening and instead started the Spanish Civil War

Tributes In his final years, Vivancos was honoured several times. He was remembered in 2017 at the Universal Congress in Seoul with a diploma for Outstanding Performance (Elstara Agado). In the same year, Xavi Alcalde gave a lecture to the 76th Congress of the Spanish Esperanto Association about Vivancos's life. He had was further honoured at the renovation of the SAT offices in Paris, and at the 90th SAT Congress in Korea. Following a resolution of the previous congress, it stated "particularly greets Comrade Eduardo Vivancos, SAT's current oldest comrade, and acknowledges his long-standing commitment and contribution to the SAT movement". In October 2017, during the inaugural speech at the 38th Catalonian Esperanto Congress then happening in Àger, Alcalde reminded the attendees that 80 years ago in the neighbouring mountain range of Montsec Vivancos fought with his fellow young idealists, and that he first taught Esperanto in those trenches. And on the 15 December of that year Edukado.net added him to its Pantheon of Esperanto. In 2018 the North American Anarchist magazine Fifth Estate dedicated an English language article to him on the subject of Anarchism and Esperanto. The Esperanto language publisher Beletra Almanako published (in Esperanto) his diary written during the Spanish Civil War, and Humanitat Nova published the Spanish language version. In 2019 the same magazine published and analysed a satire written by Vivancos during his internment in the Bram concentration camp. In the same year during the 92nd SAT congress in Barcelona Vivancos was honoured in many ways, including with the publication of his book Unu lingvo por ĉiuj: Esperanto (Esperanto: One Language for Everyone).

On the occasion of his centenary in 2020, as part of the World Esperanto Festival, UEA dedicated the first day of veterans to him. In addition, a comprehensive article on his life appeared in the Canadian bulletin La Riverego (The River), and SAT published his work in Sennaciulo and Sennacieca Revuo.

Works

Notes from my Diary (1937–38) published for the first time by Beletra Almanako in 2018. The History of Senŝtatano (1953). Published in Senŝtatano "Libro del camino y de la virtud " (1963), translation of the classical work of Laozi in Spanish, translated from the Esperanto version written by Yamaga Taiji. Some Concerns with the 53rd Universal Congress in Madrid. (1968) republished in 2020 in Sennaciulo. Esperanto; A language for everyone (1974). Published in the Venezuelan magazine "Ruta", number 17, February 1974. 50th Anniversary of the Spanish Revolution.(1986). Lecture given during the 59th SAT congress in Sant Cugat, published in Sennacieca Revuo 2020. The Other Olympic Games in Barcelona (1992) First published in the Catalan language for La Flama, bulletin of the Catalan Centre of Toronto.