Armand de Fluvià
Armand de Fluvià i Escorsa was a Catalan genealogist and heraldist. He specialized in Catalan genealogies and in the dynasties of the counts of the Catalan Countries. He had also been a pioneer of the gay rights movement since the last years of the Francoist dictatorship. He was one of the founders of Nacionalistes d'Esquerra.
Early life
Armand de Fluvià i Escorsa was born in Barcelona, Spain on 17 October 1931, the son of Armand de Fluvià i Vendrell. In 1959, he graduated with a law degree from the University of Barcelona. In 1960 he became a member of the Barcelona Bar Association.Career
After finishing a course in paleography and diplomatics in the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of the University of Barcelona, de Fluvià became involved in genealogy and heraldry. He was a member of the International Institute of Genealogy and Heraldry and of the Salazar y Castro Institute of the CSIC.In 1984, de Fluvià received the Arenberg Prize in genealogy and since 1985, he was a member of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique. He was founder and president of the Societat Catalana de Genealogia, Heràldica, Sigil·lografia, Vexil·lologia i Nobiliària. He was also a member of the Institut d'Estudis Gironins and a numerary member of the Institut d'Estudis Empordanesos, consultant of the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat de Barcelona and of the National Archive of Catalonia.
In 1996, de Fluvià gave his bibliographic and documentary collection to the Generalitat de Catalunya. At the time, he opposed the change of heraldry symbols that had been approved by the Ajuntament de Barcelona. In 2000, he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi and in 2008 received the Golden Medal of Barcelona.
On 24 October 2007, he founded the Institució Catalana de Genealogia i Heràldica being the chairperson until he died in 2024.
Activist
In 1953, de Fluvià was a member of the monarchical group Joventut Espanyola d'Acció . In 1957, he was imprisoned for political activism. He took part in the Caputxinada and until 1969, he was a member of the political secretary's office of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona. He later became involved in Catalan separatist movement and the defence of gay rights.In 1976, he became a member of the Socialist Convergence of Catalonia, which he abandoned in 1979 in order to become one of the founders of Nacionalistes d'Esquerra and, in 1985, of its splinter group, Moviment d'Esquerra Nacionalista . From 1981 to 1993, he was an active member of the Crida a la Solidaritat.
In 1970, when homosexuality was still illegal in Spain, de Fluvià founded the Spanish Movement of Homosexual Liberation. In 1974, he taught a course on sexual anthropology at the Universitat Catalana d'Estiu. He founded and became the first leader of the Front d'Alliberament Gai de Catalunya and was president of the Lambda Institute.
Death
De Fluvià died of respiratory failure on 6 September 2024, at the age of 92.Works
Pacte de Joia. Diccionari general d'heràldica. Els Primitius Comtats i Vescomtats de Catalunya. . A la recerca dels avantpassats. Repertori de grandeses, títols i corporacions nobiliàries de Catalunya. El moviment gai a la clandestinitat del franquisme . Repertori de grandeses, títols i corporacions nobiliàries de Catalunya II. L'apropiació dels Símbols Nacionals de Catalunya per part d'historiadors aragonesos. Catalunya, un país sense escut. Historia de una falsificación Nobiliaria: La Baronia de Gavín en Aragón. Manual d'heràldica i tècnica del blasó. Qui eren els meus avantpassats? Nou manual de genealogia. Manual de Nobiliària Catalana. Nobiliari General Català. Volum V.Document collection
His personal document collection is preserved in the National Archive of Catalonia.His collection contains all the documents that Armand de Fluvià has produced or received along his life:
- Family and personal documents.
- Professional documents and work materials that are linked with his activities as a genealogist and heraldist, family trees, photos of world royal houses and of families of Catalan nobility.
- Archives of the marquis de la Cuesta.
- Documents linked with the Political Secretary of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona in Catalonia with societies that defended the "monarchic rights" ;
- Documents about the society Amigos de los Castillos ;
- Documents about Carlism.
- Documents in favour of gay rights.