Josep Pla

Josep Pla i Casadevall
Pla in 1917
Born(1897-03-08)8 March 1897
Palafrugell, Catalonia, Spain
Died23 April 1981(1981-04-23) (aged 84)
Llofriu, Catalonia, Spain
OccupationJournalist and writer
LanguageCatalan and Spanish
Alma materUniversity of Barcelona
Notable worksLife Embitters
Notable awards

Josep Pla i Casadevall (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛp ˈpla]; 8 March 1897 – 23 April 1981) was a Spanish journalist and a popular author. As a journalist he worked in France, Italy, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union, from where he wrote political and cultural chronicles in Catalan and Spanish.

He is somewhat controversial for present day Catalans. On the one hand, his prose is widely acknowledged as the finest standard of contemporary literature in Catalan, but on the other hand, his ties to Francoist Spain are often frowned upon, though nowadays this is usually disregarded.