Manuel Texidor Catasus

Manuel 'Manolo' Texidor Catasus was born in 1901.  He is the 4th son and last child of Emilio Texidor Torres and Dolores Catasus Bues.

He is my grandfather, I never knew him... and as I grew up I was told stories of how he was caught and subsequently escaped from Franco soldiers by jumping from trains... adventure stories... but that was all.  I knew him as Manolo Texidor.  I did not know he was a Catasus (which doesn't help internet searching - it's like searching for John Smith).

When I was 12 or 13, I sat down with my grandmother (Muriel Elisabeth Morris) and wrote down the names she could remember from his life...  brothers, Emilio, Jose, Antonio and sisters, Maria and Mercedes.  My grandmother did not know his parents' names - but knew his father was an artist - nor anything more.  Perhaps I didn't ask, because I don't think I ever knew where they were from... Barcelona? Tossa de Mar? Sitges? - all I knew was that they were from Spain.

My grandmother told me Manolo had been married three times.  The first to Greville Foster.  Second to Carmen Vinyals.  And she was the third.  Manuel had 5 children (that she knew about!!).

Manuel and Greville had a daughter, Cristina who was born in Buenos Aires, and grew up mostly in New Zealand.  Cristina now lives in Spain.

Manuel and Carmen had two children, Pol and Marina.  Pol was born in Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War.  He was in exile with his mother and father as an infant in Normandy, France.  Marina would have been born in France.

Manuel and Elisabeth (M.E. Morris) had two children, Antonia (my mother) and Mark, both born in England.

Manuel died in Abingdon, near Oxford in 1970, about three months after I was born.  It's possible I only ever met him once and could only gurgle at him.

All this information I wrote down and kept from the age of 14... until I was 31...  when I met my cousin, Izumi Texidor Hirai for the first time in London.....

We knew nothing about Casa Texidor, very little about our grandfather, Manuel Texidor.  And we both were asking questions...

That begins the story... and everything written here I have discovered since...

Modesto Texidor: Portrait of the King praised by Duke of Amalfi

From La Vanguardia - 13th March 1925:

WORK PRAISED


The notable artist, Don Modesto Texidor, has received a letter from the Duke of Almafi, our minister in Vienna, that, at the legation of Spain, they had received the Portrait of His Majesty the King, which [Modesto] had painted; and that all those who had admired it, agreed in praising the happy opening of such work.

"TEXI": Winner of the 24 Hour Race at Spa, Belgium

This is from El Mundo Deportivo on 13th July 1932 (my translation):

A Catalan has won in Belgium too!


"TEXI", winner of the 24 Hours race at Spa, Belgium, turns out to be Pepe Texidor, a Catalan motorist, from the heroic times.

When the GP classification was posted for the Belgium 24 hours, we did not think that one of the partners in the winning team in the 4-litre category was a Catalan sportsman, who made his first campaigns on motorbikes and Morgall sidecars, in the heroic times of our motoring history.

Texi, who teamed up with Narischkine, is none other than Pepe Texidor, intensely involved in motorcycling sport at the time of Armangué, Ferran, Arruga, Romano, Orus ... and the initial bursts of enthusiasm and initiative at the Moto Club and at Penya Rhin.

Then, Texidor went abroad and devoted himself there to another sport speciality, which he had cultivated here too: tennis.

He held several posts in France as coach, then moved to Belgium, where in Brussels, with Mr Narischkine, they have several "courts".

When the 24-hour race at Spa was announced, the two partners agreed to sign up with an old Alfa Romeo from 1926, 3.6 litres.

And with this old car the team Texi/Narischkine, took first place in the 4-litre category, after a tough race, in a way special for big cars given the characteristics of the circuit.

And so, it is like Pepe Texidor has made a brilliant re-entry into racing, winning one of the most important tests of speed and endurance.

Notes:

1. Pepe Texidor is my great uncle, 'Jose Maria Texidor y Catasus'.  (In the race he is under Jean Marie Texidor).
2. Vladimir Narichkine is his racing partner.
3. It appears they came 10th overall.  But came 1st in the 4-litre category.
4. The car number could be No. 22.
5. The car was an Alfa Romeo RLTF L6 3600cc
6. Martin Armangue is his brother-in-law, and was married to my great aunt, Maria Texidor Catasus.
7. It is reported that he taught tennis to the Belgian Royal Family.

Searches: Jose Texidor Belgique & m texidor 1890

I have been looking at the new Statistics pages for this blog on blogspot...  And I think it is useful to look at the largest two searches that people are using to find this website...

Does this blog answer the two top searches in the Statistics?

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The top search in the last month is:  jose texidor belgique

Jose Maria Texidor y Catasus... was my grandfather's elder brother.  After or before the Spanish Civil War broke out, Jose had moved to Paris, where he had enrolled at the Art Academy.  He later moved to Belgium. (See my previous post for some more details.)

During his late teenage years, Jose Texidor, together with his brothers and friends, formed the Moto Club de Barcelona, in which they raced motorbikes, side-cars and cars.  Jose played tennis along with his brothers and sisters.  Their names can be found in many Spanish sports newspapers between 1914 and 1929.

Jose was a Bugatti driver for Spain (Bugatti T35B) in the Penya Rhin Grand Prix in 1933 in Barcelona - he finished 7th having completed 36 laps.  This places him in Barcelona in 1933 just before the Civil War.  He was married and had two daughters.  His marriage broke up and he left Spain for France.

On http://wsrp.wz.cz/prewar1932.html he is listed as driving for Alfa Romeo (car: RLTF) under the name Jean Marie Texidor.  Coming in at 10th place in the Belgian GP in July 1932 24hrs SPA.

Jose may have taken part in about 5 or 6 GP races between 1932 and 1934.

I have also been told that he taught tennis to the Belgian Royal Family, whilst he was living in Belgium...

He is not to be confused (or is he?) with his contemporary, Jose 'Kamalof' Texidor... the boxer... whose fight for the Spanish heavyweight Championship in 1924 had to be fought in Paris.  [Either because his wife was expecting a baby there, or because he had dodged the military draft and would have been arrested if he returned to Spain.]   If anyone knows the second surname of Kamalof, I'd like to know...

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The number two search this last month was for: m texidor 1890

The most likely answer to this search is Modesto Texidor y Torres, whose was actively painting landscapes and portraits of the aristocracy in Spain at that time.

The Children of Emilio Texidor Torres and Dolores Catasus Bues

Emilio and Dolores had 6 children.

• Jose Maria Texidor Catasus (May 1892, Barcelona - Jan 1974, Perpignan, France)
• Emilio Texidor Catasus (Sept 1893, Barcelona - Mar 1974, Barcelona, Spain)
• Maria de la Concepcion Texidor Catasus (Mar 1896, Barcelona - d.? Barcelona?, Spain)
• Antonio Texidor Catasus (Jun 1897, Barcelona - d.?, Carcassonne, France)
• Manuel Texidor Catasus (Mar 1901, Barcelona - Jun 1970, nr Abingdon, Oxon, UK)
• Maria de la Mercedes Texidor Catasus (May 1902, Barcelona - d.? Barcelona, Spain)

(There were two miscarriages between Emilio & Maria and Antonio & Manuel ...)

I didn't learn their full names until I was 36... not even my grandfather, Manuel... I knew him as 'Manuel Texidor' right up until I was about 32... I discovered his second surname, Catasus, from a book, the title of which I found a reference to in letters from him stored in the Special Collections department of Auckland University Library in New Zealand.

And I have now found the names of their children and discovered some of their grandchildren. My mother knew that some cousins existed ... but now I can say she has about 16 first cousins, not all of whom are still alive.

Every few months I discover yet another story about these brothers and sisters that is new ... I will post some information about what these siblings got up to.... they were the children of the arts/cultural generation. And yet they turned their hands to the more exciting products of the early 19th Century... National/International Sports... especially the very popular motorcycle and motorcar racing, tennis, skiing and so on. Their passion for these mostly new sports somewhat displaced them from the culturally accepted career paths... lawyer/doctor/cleric etc.

When their father, Emilio, died early, this provided yet another responsibility that slowed their careers. Emilio began to help his mother look after the shop, which was renamed to La Viuda de E. Texidor, and which was relocated to Ronda de Sant Pere. This responsibility was on top of his studies to become a doctor.

Manuel was sent off to Argentina to work in the Cork Industry... Jose went to Cuba, but soon returned and then moved to Paris and then Belgium.

After the Spanish Civil War the family had been split up and they were all living in different countries, Emilio, Maria, Mercedes in Spain; Jose and Antonio in France; and Manuel who moved from France to England.

More on their early lives later....

Modesto Texidor: At the Palace and the King awards him Commander of the Order of Isabel the Catholic

This appears in La Vanguardia on 25th July 1919, when Modesto was 65. (Translation: OS):

"Arriving from Madrid, having spent some time there painting some interiors of the Royal Palace and working on some studies for portraits of various personalities, the noted artist, Modesto Texidor, who, before his return, was received in a private audience by the Royals, who congratulated him warmly for the Queen's portrait done in pastels, and which constitutes an exquisite work of art in which the beauty of the noble lady competes with that of the flowers that appear around her."

This appears in La Vanguardia on 4th Feb 1920 (Translation: OS):

"On the occasion of being graced by His Majesty the King with the medal of Commander of the Order of Isabel the Catholic, the renowned portrait painter and our distinguished friend, Modesto Texidor, has received many compliments, to which we join ours."

The Texidor shop has been saved! - La Vanguardia (Oct/1995)

The following appears in La Vanguardia on 10th October 1995 (rough translation by Oliver Slay) - (this article is also framed at the back of the opticians which now occupies the premises)...

(Photos by Oliver)

The Texidor shop has been saved

by Lluis Permanyer 

"I confess that I went on my holidays with the fear of seeing, on my return, the destruction of another memorable shop; one more, and those that survive are few. It was that the historic Casa Texidor, on Ronda Sant Pere, 16, has been closed recently; the scaffolding and the tarpaulins forebode the worst to me. 

However, against all odds, it has been lovingly preserved, even given that there has not only been a change of ownership, but also of content. In effect, it has changed from drawing and paperwork to optics.

We must remember the merits of a true flagship shop. 

Its author is not exactly a nobody, but a relevant architect who enriched modernism: Manuel Joaquim Raspall. In Barcelona there is this shop, El Molino, the house that makes bevelling at Balmes, 149, and the house at calle Ample, 35; although the most representative of his creativity were done in a number of villages of Valles, like Granollers or Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, but especially in La Garriga, in virtue of his status as municipal architect. 

The business dedicated to Articles of Drawing and Painting was founded in 1874 in calle de Regomir by Jose Texidor i Busquets. It was inherited by his son, Emilio [Texidor i Torres], who died prematurely. His widow and his son, also called Emilio, decided to move to Ronda Sant Pere, 16 and they opened on the last day of 1909. 

Although the space was small and he treated it with an intervention that was not structural but basically decorative, Raspall accomplished a dazzling integration. We understand that he was very sensitive to the applied arts, which he used profusely and with perfect mastery in the houses that he designed, and besides it was a shop that also supplies drawing materials to architects. 

The front and the interior are a beautiful example of the integration of the arts, which in this case is concretised in the mosaic, the wrough ironwork, the stained glass and the joinery. From amongst the artesans who left here a delicious example of their mastery - Raspall drew his as he wanted directly on the wall - I only know the name of Lluis Bru; I failed to find any documented proof, but simply discovered his signature below the 'r' of the name 'Texidor' which graces the formidable sign, a ruse already used by the said artisan, with address and everything, on the facade of the Palau de la Musica. 

It is unfortunate that a part of this ensemble was somewhat mutilated in 1947, in a rather unfortunate alteration. 

This same shop has now been opened as an optician. It'll be worth checking out whether they establish a good coexistence between the legacy of the architect Raspall and the inevitable current intervention. And since when there is a destruction or mutilation it informs us the names of the guilty, it is just that in the opposite cases we also know to whom we owe for the preservation. 

The owner of the optician is Arense Jurado and he himself decided to conserve this modernist gem; such a view, unfortunately somewhat rare, is due to the beneficial influence exercised by his father, a lover of the city and of its historic, artistic and sentimental heritage. 

Hopefully, it will be a similar respect, instead of cultivating the destructive pick which opens up to aluminium, plastic or so. And, also, it is important to remember that a similar respect should be cultivated by private initiative, since when it comes to interiors and uncatalogued interiors, the coercive intervention of the City Council is not possible.