Jordi Pujol
Jordi Pujol i Soley | |
|---|---|
| 126th President of the Generalitat de Catalunya | |
| In office April 24, 1980 – December 17, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Josep Tarradellas |
| Succeeded by | Pasqual Maragall i Mira |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 9, 1930 Barcelona |
| Political party | CiU |
| Spouse | Marta Ferrusola |
| Children | Seven children |
Jordi Pujol i Soley (born June 9, 1930) was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003.
Pujol was born in Barcelona and he's a doctor in medicine by the University of Barcelona. He married Marta Ferrusola in 1956 and the couple has seven children.
He was captured in 1960 and detained for his protests against the regime of Francisco Franco. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, accused of organizing the opposition campaign. However, he got out after spending only two and a half years in jail, and immediately started a new line of political activity with the slogan "building the country". This aimed to raise Catalans' national awareness and create the necessary cultural and financial institutions for the development of Catalonia.
In 1974, he passed definitively to the political sphere on founding the political party called Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia), of which he was the first Secretary.
He was elected as the president of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya) in 1980, and reelected again in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1999.
Pujol retired in 2003, leaving the head of the party (CDC) to Artur Mas.