The Real Academia de Cultura Valenciana (Royal Academy of Valencian Culture) was founded in 1915 by the County Council of Valencia under the name of “Centre of Valencian Culture” to promote, research and defend the cultural values of the people of Valencia and to create a system of files or archive and library on matters specifically related to this area of study.
During its more than ninety years, the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture has achieved its aims under The Institution and the Academicians
the protection both of the County Council and the City Council of Valencia, which in 1917 granted the use of the Marine Consulate Hall of the Silk Market in Valencia. The President of the County Council and the Mayor of the City of Valencia are the Honorary President and Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture, Full Members with voice and vote in the Assembly and empowered to intervene in the election of Academicians.
The configuration of the Autonomous Regional Government in consonance with what is set forth in the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the creation of self government for the Autonomous Region of Valencia in 1982 made it adviseable to adjust the public organisations to the new autonomous status, and consequently, the opportune recognition the Generalitat Valenciana (Government of the Valencian Community) under whose protection the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture carries out its activities.
Also, it was necessary to adapt the regulations which govern the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture, considering its character of a public foundation, to the current legislation, modifying the statutory precepts to make it possible to work in an efficient and agile manner in order to fulfil its goals.
1. History
Until 1978 the Spanish State had a centralised organisation, following the tradition begun in 1700 with the establishment of the Borbon dynasty. Spain was governed under the absolutist model then applicable in most of the European States.
In the XIX Century this process of centralisation process was consolidated and with the French Revolution the project of National State was imposed. In Spain this concept of national state continued throughout the XIX Century and developed into the Liberal State.
However, in the XIX Century began a movement whose principle characteristic was the cultural and even political self-affirmation of the identifiable nationalities that had their own languages, other than Castillian also known as Spanish. The people of Valencia were the first in the Spanish State to take part in this movement of recovery of local identities which was known in the Lands of Valencia as the Renaissance. This happened in the heart of the centennial association Lo Rat Penat.
The Royal Academy of Valencian Culture is a public organisation created by the County Council of Valencia. Its origins must be sought in 1915 when this Council thought of creating an organisation whose aim was the study of the language and culture of the Valencian people, as a logical consequence of the consolidation of the Valencian Renaissance.
1.1 Centre of Valencian Culture
It was on January 15th 1915 when the then President of the County Council of Valencia, José Martínez Aloy and the County Council Member Juan Pérez Lucía founded the Centre of Valencian Culture.
Although it was originally founded by the County Council, the City Council of Valencia soon became involved in this project supporting the new cultural organisation. In this manner, in 1917 the City Council assigned and granted a meeting place for the Centre in the Marine Consulate Hall of the Silk Market in Valencia, a unique civil gothic architectural gem, declared part of the World Heritage. It is in this hall that the most solemn acts of the Academy are held, in a unique historical environment.
It was necessary to structure the recently created organization to make its work possible. Originally it had only six members who were independent from any other organization. However, since it was of public origin, the two governmental organisations that had given their institutional and economic support, the County Council and the City Council, were represented in it. In this manner, six more members comprising two members of the County Council, two of the City Council and the official Chroniclers of both the County Council and the City Council were added to the original six members.
As the years went by, the Centre went through several restructures. In 1922 the number of directors, as the members of the Centre were then called, was increased, to the following:
12 Founding Members
9 Honorary Members
20 Dignataries numeris
12 History Counsellors
12 Literature Counsellors
12 Art Counsellors
11 Official Counsellors
40 Correspondents in Valencia
150 Correspondents outside Valencia
In 1926 the structure was changed again. The maximum number of Directors was increased to 35 and that of Correspondents limited to 100; there were 50 Full Members, and the members honoris causa disappeared just as the correspondents within the city of Valencia, who disappeared when they were asked to read an admission speech and become Full Members of the Centre.
The internal structure was established with the following sections:
Language and literature
Ethnography and folklore
History and Archaeology
Prehistory and anthropology
These sections would become the basis for the research work of the Centre and were headed by a Tenured Director. It was also be possible to name collaborators whose work would be coordinated by the Tenured Director.
When the Civil War ended the following sections were added:
Natural Sciences
Geography of the Kingdom of Valencia
Philology of the Valencian language
And in 1951, 1955 and 1959 in this order;
• Lecture Club.
• Chroniclers of the Valencian Kingdom.
• Protectors of the Crosses and Hermitage Chapels of the Valencian Kingdom.
It is important to point out that the Chroniclers were automatically considered Correspondent Directors of their respective towns as a deference attached to their positions. This linked the Centre with most of the towns in the county of Valencia.
After the first half of the 20th century the Centre of Valencian Culture became a well known and prestigeous centre of research in different areas:
• Language and Literature
• Ethnography and Folklore
• History and Archaeology
• Prehistory and Anthropology
• Natural Science
• Geography of the Valencian Kingdom
• Valencian Philology
• Lecture Club
• Chroniclers of the Valencian Kingdom
• Protectors of the Crosses and Chapels of the Valencian Kingdom
• Lecture Club
• Chronicles of the Kingdom of Valencia
• Protectors of the Crosses and Hermitage Chapels of the Kingdom of Valencia
Even though the work of the Centre had a specific territorial circumscription and a very specific intellectual realm, always involving the language and culture of Valencia, it was the intention of the people in charge to enter into relationships with other organisations of the country giving the Centre another dimension and recognition outside of the territory of Valencia.
In this manner, when in 1946 José María Quadrado who belonged to the Superior Council of Scientific Research became a Patron of the Centre, the Patronage became what is presently the Spanish Confederation of Local Studies Centres (CECEL).
Finally, in 1962, after modifying its statutes the Full Members were increased to 46.
1.2 Academy of Culture of Valencia
The work and activities of the Centre had grown as well as its prestige, and this made it adopt another name that gathered in a better way the essence and spirit that the organisation had acquired. In 1978 it changed its name to Academy of Valencian Culture, as agreed in an extraordinary meeting held specifically for this change of name which had the necessary approval of the County Council of Valencia, as one of the founders of the scientific and the cultural organisation.
This new form, an academy, produced another restructure with the creation of new sections and elimination of others.
In 1986 continuing with the spirit of the promotion and external relationships, the Academy accepted the invitation of the Spanish Institute, joining it as an associated Academy together with other Academies of Spain.
1.3 The Royal Academy of Valencian Culture
In 1991 his majesty King Juan Carlos I granted the title of Royal to the Academy, fulfilling the aspiration of those who had headed the Academy since the beginning. From that moment onward the organisation founded by the County Council of Valencia to encourage the study of the Valencian language and culture, was recognized and renamed as the Royal Academy of Valencian Culture, and so it is registered in the current directory of the above mentioned Spanish Institute.
In view of the absence of an orthographic model to standarise the spelling of the Valencian language, the Royal Academy of Culture of Valencia agreed, in 1991, the standard known as the El Puig Standard (Normas del Puig), because it was signed in the Monastery of El Puig before many intellectuals and representatives of different organisations were witness to this .
These standards had official recognition and were published in the Official Bulletin of the Regional Government, the Generalitat Valenciana, in the first edition of the Statute of Autonomy of the Valencian Community and were used by the Culture Board of the Valencian Autonomous Government in teaching and education.
These research works about the Valencian language made of this scientific organization a popular vehicle for the defense and recovery of the authentic culture of Valencia against the continuous attempts of linguistic and cultural anexation by thse who considered that the culture and language of Valencia as a part of the culture and language of Catalonia.
Nowadays the RACV is officially recognised and receives grants of the public institutions such as the City Council, the County Council, and the Council of Culture of the Regional Government. Besides it has agreements of collaboration with other entities, such as the Cardenal Herrera University, CEU San Pablo of Valencia, the Polytechnical University of Valencia, and the International School of Protocol of Valencia.
