Review

Outstanding intellectual of great public presence in her time; writer in Catalan and Spanish, composer, journalist, speaker, feminist, Catalanist and pacifist. She directed the monthly Feminal magazine (1907–1917) and actively participated in the associative and cultural world. Her objective was the recognition of the role of women in society and, therefore, she called for women's suffrage, access to culture and education based on equal opportunities for children, women's economic autonomy or the social protection of motherhood.

Justifications

• First Catalan woman to exercise professional journalism as we currently do; she directed the monthly magazine Feminal (1907-1917).
• Feminist thinker to argue against the cliché that considers women less intelligent and less willing than men.
• An exceptional suffragette and speaker, she demanded access to women’s culture, a dignified and emancipatory education for girls that enabled them to be financially independent or the social and health protection of motherhood.
• Feminist activist: she founded La Llar, a residence for teachers and female students, and also promoted the association Acció Femenina.
• Writer in Catalan and Spanish: she cultivated various genres, such as the novel, the short story, the essay, children's and youth literature and theatre.
• Pacifist: president and sole member of the Pacifist Committee of Catalonia; founder of the Women's Peace Committee of Catalonia against the First World War.
• Composer of pieces for voice and piano and the zarzuela “El testament d'Amèlia” (1908).
• Advocate for the use of the Catalan language in all public spheres.

Biography

Carme Karr i Alfonsetti was born in Barcelona in 1865. She was the daughter of Emilia Alfonsetti (who died when she was one year old, so her wet nurse and later adoptive mother raised her) and Eugène Karr, French engineer and vice-consul in Catalonia. She was part of the high bourgeoisie, growing in a cosmopolitan and international family environment - she spoke French and German - but her main language of expression was Catalan. She got married with Josep Maria de Lasarte and de Janer (1890), lawyer, poet, writer, theatrical author and journalist, with whom she had three daughters and one son. 

Regarding her academic training, Carme Karr was raised and educated between Barcelona and Perpignan, in the Dominican schools of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary of Barcelona and Figueres. She soon integrated into Catalan cultural life and began collaborating in the magazine L'Avenç and, later, in Joventut. In 1907 she created Feminal, a monthly supplement to the weekly La Il·lustració Catalana. Karr conducted this magazine until 1917 and incorporated the most powerful female voices of the early century, achieving a high quality of content and presentation.

She composed musical pieces for voice and piano on verses by Catherine Albert, Apel·les Mestres, Àngel Guimerà or Marià Aguiló. She also wrote the zarzuela El testament d'Amèlia (1908), in collaboration with Joan Baptista Espadaler. 

In 1913 she founded and directed La Llar, a residence for teachers and female students. She promoted the association Acció Femenina in 1921, and in 1931 she signed the manifesto asking President Macià to vote for women. She was a member of the International Committee of the League of Neutral Countries created at the beginning of World War I, and she was the only woman in the Spanish state to participate in European pacifist acts. She was also the only woman to sign the manifesto "La guerra europea. Manifiesto de algunos españoles" (European War. Manifest by some Spaniards) together with Manuel Azaña, Salvador Dalí, Manuel de Falla, José Martínez Ruiz "Azorín", Gregorio Marañón, and the Machado brothers, among others. In October 1915, in Barcelona, Carme Karr founded the Feminine Pacifista Committee of Catalonia (CFPC in Catalan), whose honorary president was Dolors Monserdà de Macià. The Civil War, Francoism, and World War II greatly affected her for her anti-war convictions. She died in 1942 without any recognition for her work.  
 
Main source: https://www.escriptors.cat/autors/karrc/biografia (retrieved on 20-03-2022).

Works

Bibliography

Ainaud de Lasarte, Josep M. (2008). Carme Karr. Barcelona: Infiesta. 

Arnau, Carme (2006). "Carme Karr i 'Feminal' " Revista de Catalunya Núm. 221, pp. 85-96. 

Pessarrodona, Marta (2006). «Carme Karr Alfonsetti, la Ur-feminista catalana». Donasses. Barcelona: Destino, pp. 22-31. 

Panchón, Carme and González-Agàpito, Josep (2000). "Carme Karr i el feminisme com a problema d’educació social", dins Pilar Heras i Conrad Vilanou (ed.): Pedagogia del segle XX en femení. Barcelona: Facultat de Pedagogia, Universitat de Barcelona. 

Segura, Isabel (2008). Els feminismes de ‘Feminal’. Barcelona: Institut Català de les Dones. 

Bruch, Araceli and Tavera, Susanna (2020). Carme Karr contra la incultura femenina. Eumo Editorial. Col·lecció “Capsa de Pandora”. Introductory study and re-edition of the three conferences dictated by Carme Karr at the Ateneu Barcelonès: "L’estat social i moral de la dona a Catalunya" (6th April 1910); "Estudi d’observació dels diferents tipus de la noia casadora barcelonina" (13rd April 1910); i "La societat barcelonina, la intervenció que la dona té en ella, i de com és tractada generalment per l’home" (20th April 1910). 

Source Wiquipedia, 27-03-2022, https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carme_Karr_i_Alfonsetti  

Didactic approach

Specifically because of her pacifism and her advocacy of women's voting rights, in the same way as English suffragists or the deputy Clara Campoamor, Carme Karr can work in the mentorships.
In addition, her production can be included in the following areas:

- Valencian language and literature. 
- Spanish language and literature. 
- Music. 
- History. 
- Ethical values.

In Catalan and Spanish, the author can be included in different curricular blocks of 4th of ESO: 

- Listening and speaking. 
- Reading and writing. 
- Literary education.

Documents