| Popis: |
Pere M. Rossell i Vilar (1883-1933) is well known as a promoter of "scientific" livestock farming and a left-wing politician. Because of his ideas of a Catalan race, with respect not only to animals but also to human beings, some historians have called him a ¿modern racist¿. Much less known is his important role in the early history of the Barcelona Zoo. For years Rossell was advocating a radical reform of the small zoo. In 1920 he participated in an opposition for the direction of the zoo after the death of Francesc Darder in 1918. His plans for the zoo differed radically from Jeroni Darder, with whom he competed (and with whom he shared responsibilities in running the zoo in the 20s). Rossell knew the international scene very well from his reading and from his visits of zoos in France, Germany, and Switzerland after World War I. He was a supporter of the Carl Hagenbeck¿s "zoo revolution" (enclosures without bars) and the ideas of the French zoo reformer Gustave Loisel on the modernization of the zoo. This talk will emphasize how Rossell obtained information about zoos, and how he intended to use this information for the reform of the Barcelona Zoo. We will discuss how his nationalist and even racist convictions coexisted with his transnational vision of a modern zoo. |
