The former president of Òmnium Cultural Jordi Porta has passed away this Wednesday at the age of 86, as reported by the entity. “Struck by the death of Jordi Porta”, they wrote through their social networks.
From Òmnium they claimed the figure of the philosopher as “the promoter of the modernization” of the entity, as well as the independence roadmap. In 2010 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat.
The philosopher and cultural activist “dedicated his life to the promotion of the country’s language and culture, promotion of democracy and education in values,” says Òmnium Cultural in a statement.
“Jordi Porta’s leadership stage was a turning point in the history of Òmnium, since during his tenure he achieved the objective of turning the entity into an instrument available to the whole of society and transforming it into an organization representative of the entire country , updating and modernizing political and cultural action, without giving up its founding objectives in defense of the language, culture and the country”, highlighted the current president, Xavier Antich.
Porta was born on July 1, 1936, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, into a simple family. After working for a while, he graduated in philosophy from the University of Barcelona in 1967. He subsequently won a scholarship that allowed him to further his academic studies in Nanterre (France).
From 1971 to 2001, he was director of the Jaume Bofill Foundation, in 2002 he was appointed 7th president of Òmnium Cultural, after Josep Millàs and Miquel Bes, and he led the entity until 2010, when he was replaced by Muriel Casals, whom he He himself proposed as a successor by consensus.
He also presided over the Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana; he was president of the UNESCO Center of Catalonia and Ombudsman of the UAB (2000-2009). He published the book Years of reference (Columna 1997), with which he won the essay prize of the Ramon Trias Fargas Foundation.
