Antonio Gaudí
Spain (1852 - 1926)

In 1852 Antonio Gaudi i Cornet was born in Reus, a provincial town in the Baix Camp west of Tarragona. Antonio came from an artisan family-four generations of Gaudis had been metalworkers. He was the first Gaudi in generations to move outside their long-standing craft tradition. Little is known of Gaudi's early childhood, except that he suffered from arthritis from the age of six. Rheumatic attacks often interrupted his education at the school of Francisco Berenguer.

In 1873 Gaudi left his home for Barcelona and enrolled in the Provincial School of Architecture. However, Gaudi's interest in School of Architecture was of a secondary importance in comparison with the apprenticeship he served throughout his student years as an assistant in different architectural practices in Barcelona. He finished school in 1878. Gaudi remained a bachelor until his death, living with his family and then alone during his final years.

On June 7th, 1926, he was run over by a streetcar while crossing a Barcelona street. Because of his shabby clothing he was taken to a hospital for the poor, the Hospital de la Santa Creu, where he later was found by the deacon of the Sagrada Familia and the architect Sugranyes, who took him to a private room, where he died three days later, on June 10th, 1926.