, 1928– ) is a notable philologist of romance

Romance

Romance or romantic may refer to:* Romance languages, a family of languages originating in south-western Europe.* Romance , a genre of medieval and renaissance narrative fiction* Romance , a type of ballad or lyrical song...

 philology

Philology

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

 and Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

 lexicology

Lexicology

Lexicology is the part of linguistics which studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements, relations between words , word groups and the whole lexicon....

. He was appointed a professor at the University of Basel

University of Basel

The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...

, in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

Biography

Germà Colón studied romance philology in the University of Barcelona

University of Barcelona

The University of Barcelona is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, LERU, European University Association, Mediterranean Universities Union, International Research Universities Network and Vives Network...

 with famous philologists such as Antoni Badia i Margarit and Martí de Riquer, before graduating in 1951. He got his PhD the next year in the University of Madrid

University of Madrid

The Complutense University of Madrid is a public university in Madrid, Spain, and one of the oldest universities in the world.The University of Madrid may also refer to:* The Autonomous University of Madrid, a public university founded in 1968...

, with a thesis about dialectology

Dialectology

Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features...

 (about the Castelló dialect).

Afterwards he got a grant and went to Lovaina and Zurich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

, where he met some of the most prestigious European romanists, such as dialectologist Sever Pop (1901-1961), author of La dialectologie. The Swiss philologist Walther von Wartburg

Walther von Wartburg

Walther von Wartburg was a Swiss philologist and lexicographer. He was the author of the Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch ....

 proposed him as a lecturer of Spanish in the University of Basel

University of Basel

The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...

, where he remained. Since then he was promoted gradually: Privat-Dozent since 1959, university teacher in 1963, and professor since 1967. After 1997, he became professor emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

. He was at the same time a teacher at the University of Strasbourg

University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....

 (from 1968 to 1972) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona

Autonomous University of Barcelona

The Autonomous University of Barcelona is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain....

 (1973–74).

He became member of the Real Academia de las Buenas Letras de Barcelona and the Commission for the publication of Ramon Llull's works. He joined as a member of the consultant board of the Els Nostres Clàssics collection and the editorial staff of the magazine Estudis de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes.

He has been an honorary consultant of the International Association of Catalan Language and Literature (he was president from 1976 to 1982) and member of the Institute of Catalan Studies. He received the Sanchis Guarner prize, that is given by the Jaume I Foundation (1987), the Honorary Price of the Valencian Letters (1988), the Prat de la Riba prize (given by the) IEC

IEC

-Organisations:* Independent Electoral Commission * Independent Electrical Contractors, a U.S. national trade association.* Institut d'Estudis Catalans , a Catalan academic institution....

 (1979), the Serra d'Or prize (1981), the Creu de Sant Jordi

Creu de Sant Jordi

The Creu de Sant Jordi is the highest civil distinction awarded in Catalonia . It was established by the Generalitat de Catalunya autonomous government by virtue of the Decret 457/1981 de 18 de desembre in 1981.. The medal was designed by goldsmith Joaquim Capdevila.-Recipients:*List of...

 (1985) and the Literature Prize of the Generalitat de Catalunya

Generalitat de Catalunya

The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....

 (1987). In 1999 he received also the Gran Cruz de Alfonso X el Sabio.

He received an honorary degree from the University of Valencia in 1984, from the University of Alicante

University of Alicante

The University of Alicante was established in 1979 on the basis of the Center for University Studies , which was founded in 1968. The University main campus is located in San Vicente del Raspeig/Sant Vicent del Raspeig, bordering the city of Alicante to the north...

 in October 1990, from the University Jaume I of Castellón and the Autonomous University of Barcelona

Autonomous University of Barcelona

The Autonomous University of Barcelona is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain....

 in January 2003.

He has donated his personal library (more than 20,000 volumes) to the University Jaume I of Castellón.

Selected works

• El léxico catalán en la Romania (1976).
• La llengua catalana en els seus textos (1978).
• El panorama de la lexicografia catalana (1986).
• Problemes de la llengua a València i als seus voltants (1987).
• El español y el catalán, juntos y en contraste (1989).
• Estudis de filologia catalana i romànica (1997).
• Para la historia del léxico español (2002).
• De Ramon Llull al Diccionari de Fabra. Acostament lingüístic als monuments de les lletres catalanes (2003).

External links

• http://www.uab.es/anydelesllengues/p-colon.htm Biography of Germà Colon in the UAB website (in Catalan).
• http://hispanismo.cervantes.es/Hispanistas_ficha.asp?DOCN=7416 Information about Germà Colon (in Spanish).
• http://www.fundaciocolon.uji.es/english.htm Foundation Germà Colon i Domènech website.