Álvaro Jordi d'Ors Pérez-Peix (14 April 1915 – 1 February 2004) was a Spanish scholar of Roman law, currently considered one of the best 20th-century experts on the field; he served as professor at the universities of Santiago de Compostela and Pamplona. He was also theorist of law and political theorist, responsible for development of Traditionalist vision of state and society. Politically he supported the Carlist cause. Though he did not hold any official posts within the organization, he counted among top intellectuals of the movement; he was member of the advisory council of the Carlist claimant.
Family and youth
The Ors family has been for centuries related to Catalonia, its origins traced back to Lerida.according to Álvaro d’Ors the surname comes from “bear”; earlierst notes bout the name are from Barcelona and Lerida, Gabriel Pérez Gómez, Álvaro d'Ors: Sinfonía de una vida, Madrid 2020, , see the chapter Barcelona, principios del siglo XX The great-grandfather of Álvaro, Joan Ors Font,Joan Ors i Font married Concepción Rosal i Sanmartí, Pérez Gómez 2020 was the native of Sabadell; his son and Álvaro's paternal grandfather, José Ors Rosal, settled in Barcelona and since the 1880s he practiced as doctor in the Santa Creu hospital. He married a girl from an enriched indiano family, born in Cuba though related to Vilafranca del Penedès.Celia Rovira García, was born in Cuba; she was daughter to José Rovira Alcocer and Eloísa García Silveira, Pérez Gómez 2020 Their son and the father of Álvaro, Eugenio Ors Rovira (1881-1954), in the 1910s emerged among protagonists of cultural life in Catalonia; he later changed his surname to d’Ors.Eugenio Ors changed the surname from Ors to d’Ors to get himself distinguished from numerous other Orses in Catalonia. The change led to some spelling confusion, as there were the name appeared in print as Ors, d’Ors or D’Ors, Pérez Gómez 2020 In the 1920s he grew to nationally recognized figure as publisher, essayist, art critic, writer and philosopher; in the Francoist Spain he held high jobs related to culture.ABC 29.09.54, available here Currently he is considered one of key representatives of late Spanish Modernism and Catalan cultural renaissance.Eugenio d’Ors y Rovira, [in:] Britannica online, available here In 1906 he marriedthe couple divorced in 1932, Rafael Domingo, Álvaro d’Ors, [in:] Rafael Domingo, Javier Martínez-Torrón (eds.), Great Christian Jurists in Spanish History, Cambridge 2018, ; based on version published at Academia service, available here, p. 3 María Pérez Peix (1879-1972), daughter to a successful textile business entrepreneur from Barcelona;her father was Benigno Álvaro Pérez Gonzalez, with roots in Valladollid and Rioja. He settled in Catalonia and founded a textile business Pérez y Paradinas, with branches in Madrid, Salamanca, Valladolid and Cordoba. Described as “máquina de ganar dinero”, he made a fortune and gained solid position in the Barcelona business. Pérez Gonzalez married Teresa Peix Calleja, daughter to an entrepreneur from Manresa José Peix i Quer, who married a girl from Palencia, Eugenia Calleja. She was an educated and ambitious woman and brought up her daughter accordingly, Pérez Gómez 2020 a cultured person with artistic penchant, she tried her hand in music, dance, guitar, photography and especially sculpture.she was the disciple of Rodín; as a sculptor she adopted the nickname of “Telur”, Pérez Gómez 2020
The couple settled in Barcelona; they had three children, all of them sons; Álvaro was born as the youngest one.Pérez Gómez 2020 He was raised in luxuriouse.g., in the late 1920s the family-owned an entire fleet of cars: it consisted of a Hispano-Suiza, two Lincolns, and a Willys, Pérez Gómez 2020 and bohemian atmosphere, since childhood traveling extensively abroad due to professional assignments of his father; in 1922 the family moved to Madrid.Álvaro's father grew in a Castellano-speaking family, Álvaro's mother, influenced by Cuban culture, also spoke Spanish as her native tongue. As a result, though living in Catalonia and contributing to Catalan culture, the couple spoke Castellano at home. The second language spoken in the family was French, mostly because of long spells in France. The couple and their children spoke Catalan perfectly. However, in public rather than in private, Pérez Gómez 2020 First educated by his mother,the family anecdote has it that once his parents were abroad, Álvaro's grandmother, perplexed by lack of systematic education, arranged for him to enter Colegio San Luiz Gonzaga. The first few days were a disaster, and the schooling project was temporarily abandoned, Pérez Gómez 2020 in 1923-1932 he frequented Instituto-Escuela, an establishment known for its liberal profile; it is there he obtained the baccalaureate.Pérez Gómez 2020, see esp. the chapter Instituto-Escuela In 1932 d’Ors enrolled at law and in 1933 at philosophy and letters.Pérez Gómez 2020, see esp. the chapter 1932. Universidad Outbreak of the Civil War caught him at the family estate in Argentona.in July 1936 d’Ors at his grandmother's estate, en route to Heidelberg; he was supposed to commence an academic course in Germany to study, Pérez Gómez 2020, see esp. the chapter Julio de 1936. Una Familia dispersa Fearing repression due to pro-Nationalist stand assumed in Paris by his father,A.U., Sinfonía de una vida. Reseña de la biografía de Álvaro d’Ors, [in:] Ahora Información service 02.11.20, available here Álvaro opted for self-confinement. In mid-1937, he crossed the Pyreneeshe first burnt his ID papers to prevent identification and troubles to his family if he gets caught by the Republican border guards, Pérez Gómez 2020, see esp. the chapter Planes de fuga and through France, he made it to the Nationalist zone.his academic mentor José Castillego suggested that from France d’Ors goes to London to complete his education; he declined the offer and headed for the border crossing in Irun, A.U., Sinfonía de una vida. Reseña de la biografía de Álvaro d’Ors, [in:] Ahora Información service 02.11.20, available here Drafted to the army he deserteddrafted to the army in June, he was directed to Batallón de Zapadores Minadores no. 6 in Pamplona. Already in the barracks he was seeking re-assignment to some other unit. He was greatly disappointed with the drill, cynicism, and barracks culture and volunteered to the Carlist troops, serving in requeté units until 1939.Domingo 2018, p. 4. The exception was few months in mid-1938 when d’Ors attended the course of alférez provisional in Ceuta, Domingo 2018, p. 2 Released, the same year he graduated in lawd’Ors did not graduate in philosophy and letters, Domingo 2018, p. 2 and obtained a teaching contract at Universidad Central.María Alejandra Vanney, Potestas, Auctoritas y Estado moderno, [in:] Cuadernos de Empresa y Humanismo 109 (2009), p. 24
In 1945 d’Ors married Palmira Lois Estévez (1920-2003),Margarita Figueiras Nodar, La enseñanza media en A Estrada (1933-1938) a partir de una fuente inédita, [in:] A Estrada: Miscelánea histórica e cultural 12 (2009), p. 126 his student and daughter to a local Galician lawyer;she was native of Ponte Caldelas (Pontevedra province), and daughter to a Manuel Lois Vidal (he was “secretario de la administración de justicia”and retired in 1962, Boletín Oficial de Estado 11313 (1962), available here. Her mother was and Elisa Estévez Fernández. For a poem dedicated to the couple see Miguel d’Ors, El mistero de la felicidad, Sevilla 2012, , p. 61 until 1961 they lived in Santiago de Compostela, and later on in Pamplona. The couple had 11 children,Pérez Gómez 2020 born between the mid-1940s and the mid-1960s. Three sons became academics: Miguel d’Ors Lois in literature (Pamplona, Granada), though he gained some recognition also as a poet,see e.g. en interview with him in Poesía digital 5, available here Javier in law (Santiago, León)Domingo 2018, p. 6 and Angel in philosophy (Pamplona, Madrid).Juan Arana, Recuerdos de juventud. Recuerdo de una gran amistad. Angel d’Ors Lois (1951-2012), [in:] Naturaleza y libertad: revista de estudios interdisciplinares 2 (2013), pp. 269-285. See also his works at Dialnet.Unirioja service, available also here Daughters became local editors, historians or art critics;for Inés (historian of literature and editor) see e.g. her professional profile at LinkedIn service, available here. For Blanca (who tried her hand in letters) see e.g. her volume La Araucana, Madrid 2001, . For Pía (historian, editor) see e.g. her Facebook profile, available here. For Elisa (lawyer, art critic and historian) see e.g. brief info at Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica service, available here one daughter was mentally impaired and died prematurely.Isabel, known also as Beliñha(1958-2005), Miguel d’Ors, Mi padre (2004), pp. 36-37 The best known of d’Ors’ grandchildren are Laura d’Ors Vilardebo, a photographer and art critic,see Laura d’Ors entry, [in:] RKD service, available here, also her personal web page, available here and Diego d’Ors Vilardebó, a musician.see e.g. Daniel d’Ors Vilardebó entry, [in: Discogs service, available here Among Álvaro's nephews, a Catholic priest Pablo d’Ors Führer is a writer and Juan d’Ors Führer a musician. Both Álvaro's brothers served as requetés and one in Division Azul in Russia;according to a personal family account the brothers were entirely different personalities; Victor was a cheerful, somewhat comical type, Juan Pablo, a physician, was serious and possibly tragic figure, while Álvaro approached a heroic dimension, Andreu Navarra, El día que d’Ors se hizo falangista, [in:] La Razón 11.11.18, available here Víctor gained some nationwide recognition as an architect and author of related books.Xosé M. Núñez Seixas, De gaitas y liras.Sobre discursos y prácticas de la pluralidad territorial en el fascismo español (1930-1950), [in:] Miguel Angel Ruiz Carnicer (ed.), Falange, las culturas políticas del fascismo en la España de Franco (1936-1975), vol. 1, Madrid 2013, , p, 306
Academic career