Enric Prat de la Riba

Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà was a Spanish politician, lawyer and writer. He was a member of the Centre Escolar Catalanista, where one of the earliest definitions of Catalan nationalism was formulated. He became the first President of the Commonwealth of Catalonia on 6 April 1914 and retained this office until his death. He wrote the book and political manifesto La nacionalitat catalana in which greater autonomy to Catalonia was advocated. He was one of the main architects of the resurgence of Catalan national consciousness in the 19th century. He also took part in the drafting and approval of the Bases de Manresa, a foundational document of Catalan regionalist politics that laid out a proposed framework for self-government in Catalonia in 1892. He died in 1917 and is interred in the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona.