Pierre Vilar


Pierre Vilar was a French historian specialized in the history of Catalonia and hispanism. He is considered one of the most authoritative 20th-century historians for the history of Spain, for both the Ancien Régime and modern history. He and Jaume Vicens Vives were among the most influential historians of Catalonia.
His short 1947 essay Histoire de l'Espagne, despite being banned under Francoism, has a great success, and after the death of the Francisco Franco was frequently used in progressive circles and for teaching. In 2009, it reached its 22nd edition.

Works

The Pierre Vilar Collection of the Universitat de Girona is the personal library of the historian, given by his family in 2006. It consists of more than 6,500 20th and 19th century books and 331 journal series, with some of the volumes signed and dedicated by its authors. The collection is located at the UdG Library. Barri Vell campus.
Cataloguing of the collection was completed in 2006 in the context of the centennial of Pierre Vilar's birth.
This collection with those of Jaume Vicens Vives, Joan Reglà, Ramon Garrabou, Jordi Nadal, Joaquim Nadal i Lluís Maria de Puig, confer to the UdG a great significance as center for historical research in Catalunya.