Bosch i Cardellach Foundation

The Fundació Bosch i Cardellach is a private cultural foundation based in Sabadell, in the Vallès region of Catalonia, Spain. It was created at the end of 1942 by a group of Sabadell residents — Ramon Arquer Costajussà, Miquel Crusafont Pairó, Joan Montllor i Pujal and Joan Farell Domingo — under the supervision of the then mayor of the city, Josep Maria Marcet i Coll. The institution was named after Antoni Bosch i Cardellach (1758–1829), a historian, physician and municipal archivist of Sabadell. Its purpose from the outset was to promote local and regional studies of the Vallès. The foundation organises courses, conferences and exhibitions, awards research prizes and grants, and carries out publications focused on the social and cultural history of Sabadell. It is governed by a patronat (board of trustees) whose president is the mayor of Sabadell, together with a Junta Directiva currently headed by Josep Maria Benaul. The institution is structured into six sections: Arts and Letters; Science and Technology; Economics and Social Sciences; History and Archaeology; People and Community; and Territory and Urban Space. Each section promotes research in its field, leading to events and activities and to the publication of works and studies. The foundation maintains a library and an archive that preserve a documentary collection built from donations of private collections — and some institutional ones — as well as from the institution's own activity. By 2016, some 200,000 documents were estimated to form part of its bibliographic holdings, largely thanks to the incorporation of part of the former Caixa Sabadell Library. At that point the new library was named Miquel Carreras — after the distinguished Sabadell figure who died at the front in 1938 — and its reading room was named after the engineer and bibliophile Antoni Trallero, whose personal collection was also added to the holdings. The catalogue of the Biblioteca Miquel Carreras is consultable online, and work is under way to include all its records in the Collective Catalogue of the Universities of Catalonia. As a meeting point for professionals, entities and citizens, the foundation describes itself as a place to share knowledge, ideas and reflections about the city and the comarca. Its activities include debates on the state of the city and its future, academic sessions, courses and exhibitions, and it promotes research through prizes, grants and its own projects. It also publishes a newsletter for its activities. The foundation is supported by patrons and collaborators and operates as a non-profit cultural institution rather than a commercial enterprise.

The origins of the Fundació Bosch i Cardellach go back to the end of 1942, when the Sabadell residents Ramon Arquer Costajussà, Miquel Crusafont Pairó, Joan Montllor i Pujal and, finally, with the incorporation of Joan Farell Domingo, succeeded in creating an institution dedicated to local and regional studies. The creation took place under the supervision of the then mayor of the city, Josep Maria Marcet i Coll, and the new body was given the name of Antoni Bosch i Cardellach (1758–1829), who had been a historian, physician and municipal archivist of Sabadell. From its foundation the institution was conceived as a vehicle for the study of the city and its comarca, the Vallès. Over the decades it built a programme of courses, conferences and exhibitions, and it began to convene research prizes and to publish works centred on the social and cultural history of Sabadell. A book by Josep Torrella i Pineda and J. C. Alavedra i Bosch, 'Cinquanta anys de la Fundació Bosch i Cardellach. 1942-1992' (1995), documents the first fifty years of the institution. The foundation also developed a library and an archive. These preserve a documentary collection formed by donations of private collections — and of some entities — as well as by the institution's own activity. A major turning point came with the incorporation of part of the former Biblioteca de Caixa Sabadell. At that moment it was decided to give the foundation's new library the name Miquel Carreras — after the distinguished Sabadell figure who died at the front in 1938 — and to name the reading room after the engineer and bibliophile Antoni Trallero, whose personal collection was also added to the holdings. By 2016 it was estimated that some 200,000 documents formed part of the foundation's bibliographic holdings. The catalogue of the Biblioteca Miquel Carreras is consultable online, and work is under way to include all of its records in the Catàleg Col·lectiu de les Universitats de Catalunya (Collective Catalogue of the Universities of Catalonia). Institutionally, the foundation is governed by a patronat whose president is the mayor of Sabadell, together with a Junta Directiva. Josep Maria Benaul currently heads the Junta Directiva. The institution is organised into six sections — Arts and Letters; Science and Technology; Economics and Social Sciences; History and Archaeology; People and Community; and Territory and Urban Space — each of which promotes research in its respective field, leading to events and activities and to the publication of works and studies. In its own self-description, the foundation presents itself as a meeting place for professionals, entities and citizens to share knowledge, ideas and reflections about the city and the comarca, and it frames debate on the state of the city, its future and options for improvement as an opportunity it cannot neglect. It uses conferences, academic sessions, courses and exhibitions to disseminate the results of its debates and the state of local heritage, and it promotes research through prizes, grants and its own projects. It also invites the public to subscribe to its newsletter to receive information about all its activities.

• 2016

  Estimated 200,000 documents in the bibliographic holdings; library named Miquel Carreras and reading room named Antoni Trallero after incorporation of part of the former Caixa Sabadell Library.

• 1995

  Publication of 'Cinquanta anys de la Fundació Bosch i Cardellach. 1942-1992' by Josep Torrella i Pineda and J. C. Alavedra i Bosch.

• 1942

  Foundation created at the end of the year by Ramon Arquer Costajussà, Miquel Crusafont Pairó, Joan Montllor i Pujal and Joan Farell Domingo, under the supervision of mayor Josep Maria Marcet i Coll, and named after Antoni Bosch i Cardellach.

A non-profit cultural foundation and civic meeting point dedicated to local and regional studies, research dissemination and heritage preservation in Sabadell and the Vallès.

• Biblioteca Miquel Carreras

  Foundation library holding an estimated 200,000 documents by 2016, with an online catalogue.

• Archive

  Archive preserving the foundation's documentary collection formed by donations and institutional activity.

• Research prizes and grants

  Prizes and grants used to promote research.

• Publications

  Works and studies centred on the social and cultural history of Sabadell.

1. 1Fundació Bosch i Cardellach — official websitefbc.cat
2. 2Fundació Bosch i Cardellach — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Fundació Bosch i Cardellach — Viquipèdia (Catalan Wikipedia)ca.wikipedia.org