Alfred Bosch

Alfred Bosch i Pascual (born 17 April 1961) is a Catalan academic, journalist, author, politician and a former Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency of Catalonia. He was previously a member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain and a member of Barcelona City Council.

In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Bosch and the second or maternal family name is Pascual; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
The Honourable
Alfred Bosch
Bosch in November 2018
Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency of Catalonia
In office
22 November 2018 – 9 March 2020
PresidentQuim Torra
Preceded byErnest Maragall
Succeeded byBernat Solé
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office
5 December 2011 – 27 October 2015
ConstituencyBarcelona
Member of Barcelona City Council
In office
2015–2018
Personal details
Born
Alfred Bosch i Pascual

(1961-04-17) 17 April 1961
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Political partyCatalonia Yes
Other political
affiliations		Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes
Alma mater
OccupationAcademic, journalist, author

Early life and family

Bosch was born on 17 April 1961 in Barcelona, Catalonia.[1][2] He is the second of five siblings and grew up in the Esquerra de l'Eixample district of Barcelona.[3] He later lived in Sant Antoni before settling in Ciutat Vella in the 1980s.[3] He was educated at a British school near Barcelona where he was taught in English.[4]

Bosch joined the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 1979, graduating in 1984 with a degree in philosophy and letters.[4][5]

Career

In 1984, after graduating from university, Bosch joined the Barcelona team bidding to host the 1992 Summer Olympics and from 1987, after the city was chosen, he worked for Comitè Organitzador de les Olimpíades de Barcelona (COOB'92), the organising committee.[5][6] Afterwards he moved to South Africa to research his doctoral thesis and in 1994 he received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Barcelona after producing a thesis titled Nelson Mandela, l'Últim Home-Déu (Nelson Mandela, the last Man-God).[5][6]

Bosch joined the UAB in 1995 as a professor of African history.[4][7] He has taught at several other universities including Pompeu Fabra University, Autonomous University of Madrid, University of London, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Ibadan, Hood College and University of Chicago.[5][7]

Between 1984 and 1996 Bosch also travelled the world, working as a free lance journalist reporting on conflicts such as such as apartheid South Africa, Palestinian intifada, Lebanese Civil War, Nicaraguan Revolution, Sri Lankan Civil War and Yugoslav Wars.[4][7] His work was published in Avui, Diario de Barcelona, El Periódico de Catalunya, El Temps, Catalunya Ràdio and others.[4]

Bosch has written several novels and essays.[7] His 1997 essay La Via Africana won the Joan Fuster Prize for Essay.[2] The novel L'Atles Furtiu won the Sant Jordi prize in 1997 whilst Les Set Aromes del Món won the Ramon Llull Novel Award in 2004.[2][8][9] He has also won the Néstor Luján and Prudenci Bertrana prizes.[8][10]

Politics
Bosch is sworn in as Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency on 23 November 2018

In 2010 Bosch became spokesperson for Barcelona Decideix, the organisation behind the 2011 independence referendum in Barcelona.[5][11] Bosch was one of the founding members of the secretariat of the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) in 2011 and he has served on the board of Òmnium Cultural.[12]

Bosch contested the 2011 general election as an independent Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí) electoral alliance candidate in the Province of Barcelona and was elected to the Congress of Deputies.[5][13][14] He was spokesman for the ERC group in the congress.[8] In 2013, he was suspended from the Congress for addressing it in English as part of a protest against an anti-corruption bill.[15]

Bosch contested the 2015 local elections as a Republican Left of Catalonia-Left Movement-Barcelona Open City-Advance-Catalonia Yes-Acord Municipal (ERC-MES-BcnCO-AVANCEM-CatSí-AM) electoral alliance candidate in Barcelona and was elected.[16][17]

In November 2018 he replaced Ernest Maragall as Catalonia's Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency.[18][19] He resigned on 9 March 2020 after his chief of staff was accused of harassment of department workers.[20]

Personal life

Bosch is divorced and has two children.[1][5] He speaks Catalan, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.[7] He is an amateur opera singer and has taken part in various zarzuela and musicals.[21]

Published works
  • Fulls Impermeables (1984)
  • Cronicàlia (1986)
  • Nelson Mandela, l'Últim Home-Déu (1995, Curial; ISBN 8472569039, 9788472569034)[2]
  • Herois d'Azània (1996)
  • La Via Africana (1997, E. Climent; ISBN 847502517X, 9788475025179)[2]
  • L'Atles Furtiu (1998)[1][2]
  • Alia la Sublim (2000)[2]
  • El Imperio Que Nunca Existió (2001)
  • L'Avi (2001)
  • 1714 (2002)[1][5]
  • Europa Sense Embuts (2002)
  • Les Set Aromes del Món (2004)[2][5]
  • Heretaràs la Rambla (2005)
  • Catalans (2006)[2]
  • Inquisitio (2006)[2]
  • I Ara Què? (2011)

Electoral history
Electoral history of Alfred Bosch
Election Constituency Party Alliance No. Result
2011 general[13][14]Province of BarcelonaIndependentRepublican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes1Elected
2015 local[16][17]BarcelonaCatalonia YesRepublican Left of Catalonia-Left Movement-Barcelona Open City-
Advance-Catalonia Yes-Acord Municipal		1Elected

References
  1. Pi, Jaume (2 November 2011). "Alfred Bosch, candidato de ERC-RCat-Catalunya Sí a las elecciones del 20-N". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  2. Belmonte, Eva. "Perfil: Un académico del independentismo". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. Sust, Toni (18 November 2018). "Alfred Bosch cruza la plaza". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  4. "El nostre equip: Alfred Bosch i Pascual" (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain: Republican Left of Catalonia. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  5. Mercader, Carla (13 May 2015). "Alfred Bosch, de profesor universitario trotamundos a alcaldable en Barcelona". 20 minutos (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  6. Romaní, Daniel (18 July 2012). "Alfred Bosch: "Els moments més plàcids els vaig viure durant els quinze dies de celebració dels Jocs"". Ara (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  7. "Torra nomena Alfred Bosch conseller d'Acció Exterior i Relacions Institucionals". Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  8. "Alfred Bosch guanya les primàries per ser l'alcaldable d'ERC per Barcelona". Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  9. "Alfred Bosch gana el premio Ramon Llull" (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 4 February 2004. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  10. "Alfred Bosch, la 'voz' del soberanismo en Madrid para ganar Barcelona". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Europa Press. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  11. Castro, Liz (10 June 2014). "Alfred Bosch, MP and Leader of Catalan Republican Left in Spanish Congress, today on #CatalanTalk". VilaWeb. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  12. "Un home de món al capdavant d'Exteriors" (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain: Republican Left of Catalonia. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. "Otras Disposiciones: Juntas Electorales Provinciales - Junta Electoral de Girona" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Government of Spain. 25 October 2011. p. 111256. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  14. "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Congresso / Noviembre 2011" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  15. "Spanish MP ejected for speaking English during debate".
  16. "Administració Electoral: Junta Electoral de Zona de Barcelona". Butlletí Oficial de la Província de Barcelona (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain: Diputació de Barcelona. 28 April 2015. p. 12. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  17. "Consulta de Resultados Electorales: Municipales / Mayo 2015 - Mun. Barcelona" (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  18. Tercero, Daniel (22 November 2018). "Torra nombra a Alfred Bosch consejero de Acción Exterior, en sustitución de Ernest Maragall". ABC (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  19. Pi, Jaume (23 November 2018). "Torra pide a Bosch que ejerza de "ministro de Exteriores" para que Catalunya sea "conocida y reconocida"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  20. "Alfred Bosch dimite como 'conseller' por los casos de acoso sexual en Exteriors". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  21. Rodríguez, Gisela (4 September 2018). "La simpàtica (i curiosa) biografia d'Alfred Bosch que triomfa a Twitter". El Nacional (in Catalan). Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
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