Mallorca's Famous Inhabitants
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llul (1235-1316) was a wealthy courtier n Palma until a disastrous seduction attempt led him to retire to Puig de Randa in isolation. Devoting himself to prayer and study, he wrote in Catalan and Latin on every thing from algebra to metaphysics; he is widely seen as the father of the Catalan language Recalled to the court by Jaume II, he established an Oriental language school at Valldemossa and learnt Arabic with the help of a Moorish slave. He was stoned to death attempting to convert Muslims in Tunisia.
Junipero Serra
The Mallorcan missionary, Junipero Serra (1713-84), is honoured in the Capitol in Washington as 'the founder of California'. Of course California was there already; but it was Serra, sent there at the age of 54 after 14 years in Mexico, who established the missions which have grown into some of Americans biggest cities, including San Diego and San Francisco. A museum in his home town of Petra tells the story. He was beatified in 1988, the first step on the road to sainthood.
Frederic Chopin
150 years ago, Chopin spent a winter in Mallorca (Valldemossa). During this time he wrote letters to his friends in Paris mentioning his love for the island, but also raving against the people living on the island. It is believed that he had a mistress "George Sand" here in Mallorca. ...read more
Joan Miró
Joan Miro was a Spanish painter, whose surrealist works, with their subject matter drawn from the realm of memory and imaginative fantasy, are some of the most original of the 20th century. Miró was born April 20, 1893, in Barcelona and studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and the Academia Galí. ...read more
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