Dolors Canals Farriols
Biography
Dolors Canals Farriols was born in Barcelona into a middle class family which had worked in the textile industry for generations. Thanks to her family's prosperity, she was able to travel and take an interest in culture, among various other advantages not usually available to a young Spanish woman in the first quarter of the twentieth century. She attended the Dames du Sacré Coeur school and later studied medicine at the University of Barcelona, where she became interested in child development and began to wonder how far human development would go given optimum circumstances. Before finishing her medical studies and during the Spanish Civil War, she was appointed director of the factory nurseries in Sants and Badalona, in addition to putting her knowledge of medicine into practice. Later, she worked as a specialist at the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Catalonia and was appointed head of the war nurseries in Catalonia, the Pyrenees and the Ebro region.
Once the Civil War ended, she went into exile with her husband, the painter Joan Sunyer, first to Paris and shortly afterwards to the Dominican Republic, then Cuba, and finally to the United States. There, she was appointed director of the first war nursery in New York, in addition to presenting a weekly programme on CBS radio, discussing topics related to children, which was broadcast internationally. On the death of General Francisco Franco, the couple began to visit Catalonia with increasing frequency until they finally returned to live in Barcelona, where Dolors founded the Centre for Human Development from 0-3 years.
Spheres of influence
Dolors contributed to twentieth century education and science through her personal and life project to discover the limits of human development. Her principal research focused on the importance of the treatment children receive during the first three years of life for subsequent personal development.
She founded the first centre in the world devoted to human development from birth to three years (the Barcelona Centre for Human Development from 0-3)
Chronology
1913: Born in Barcelona, where she stayed during childhood and adolescence.
1931: When the Republic was proclaimed, Dolors concluded her studies at the Dames du Sacré Coeur school and began studying medicine at the University of Barcelona. While still a student, she began to wonder how far human development would go given optimum circumstances.
1936-1939: Before finishing her medical studies and during the Spanish Civil War, she was appointed director of the war nurseries in Catalonia, the Pyrenees and the Ebro region, nurseries which during the war gave a break to mothers who were maintaining production in Spain.
Dolors participated in an educational project for children aged 0-6 years old aimed at implementing new educational goals within the Catalan General Education Plan and involving the complete restructuring of the education system. Her first study on the effects of sensory stimulation on muscle activity in one year old infants emerged as a result of this experience.
1938: She married the internationally famous painter, Joan Sunyer.
1939: With the end of the Spanish Civil War, she went into exile, initially to Paris, where Sunyer usually lived.
1940: She then went to live in the Dominican Republic, where she taught Paediatrics and Child Care. She later moved to Cuba. In Havana, she continued her research with infants at the Calixto Garcia Hospital, and contributed to the Bulletin of the Cuban Society of Paediatrics.
1942: She moved to America, where she was appointed director of the first war nursery in New York. She also presented a radio programme on CBS in New York, concerning child care information, which was later adapted for other American countries.
1963-1972: She worked at the international publishing house, Publications, where she directed the medical department of the Manager Medical Literature Control.
1976: Canals and Sunyer returned to Barcelona.
1989: She founded the Centre for Human Development from 0-3, devoted to Child Care documentation, research and teacher training.
1993: She authored a book entitled Physical education: from birth to three years.
2010: She died in Barcelona.
Sources
of information
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Canals Farriols, D. La Educación Física del nacimiento a los tres años. Ed. Rosa Sensat: Associació de Mestres, 1993.
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Col·legi Oficial de Metges de Barcelona: http://www.galeriametges.cat/galeria-fitxa.php?icod=FIF
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Facultat de Pedagogía. Pedagogía del Siglo XX en Femení. Ed. Universitat de Barcelona, 2000.
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Gabancho P, Aixalà i Mateu E. El Segle XX a través de les àvies. La historia amagada. Ed. La Campana, 1999.
