Institute for Catalan Studies
Catalan / Valencian cultural domain |
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File:Institut d'Estudis Catalans.gif |
The Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute for Catalan Studies, or IEC) is an academic institution, based in Barcelona, whose Philological Section promulgates official standards for the Catalan language as used in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The Institute was founded on 18th June 1918 by Enric Prat de la Riba, the first President of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya. It was just one of a number of cultural and scientific institutions created at that time to lend a greater prestige to the Catalan language and culture; others included the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia), the Escola Industrial (Industrial School), the Escola Superior de Belles Arts (Higher School of Fine Arts) and the Escola del Treball (School of Labour). Prat de la Riba also created the Escola de l'Administració Local (School of Local Administration), in order to create a body of Catalan civil servants.
One of the Institute's more important objectives was to promote and continue the work of Pompeu Fabra in standardising the Catalan language.
The Institute's current president is Salvador Giner, elected to this office for four years in June 2005.