PABLO CASALS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 04/14/1954 - HFSID 158419

PABLO CASALS
Cellist Pablo Casals wrote "this note of profound thanks" to Nancy MacDonald - head of Spanish Refugee Aid, which assisted refugees from the Spanish Civil War - in 1954.
Autograph letter signed "Pablo Casals" in blue ink. 1 page, 5¼x8¼. Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, April 14, 1954. Written in French, translated: "Dear Mrs. MacDonald: A year since [the founding] of the Spanish Refugee Aid and I wanted to send you this note of profound thanks for so much good that you did for my unfortunate compatriots and the directors of Spanish Refugee Aid. Thanks for sending me the donor list - if it would be possible for you to publish a few words of gratitude from me addressed to those that answered our appeal - The New York Times seems to me the best choice. I rejoice at the thought that you will come to Prades. I will be here all of July. In August I will go to Switzerland - The Festival will be from the 7th to the 22nd of June." This letter is probably addressed to NANCY MacDONALD (1910-1916). She headed Spanish Refugee Aid (SRA) from its founding in 1953 until her retirement in 1983. Until the organization was dissolved in 2006, SRA assisted 5,550 refugees of the Spanish Civil War, who had fled into France after Generalisimo Francisco Franco's victory over the Republicans in 1939. PABLO CASALS (1876-1973, born Pau Casals in Vendrell, Spain) achieved worldwide renown as a violoncellist, conductor and composer. Casals was born near Barcelona, Spain, and was a patriot opposed to tyranny. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) established General Francisco Franco as total dictator of a bloody totalitarian state. Casals was so opposed to the Franco regime that he declined to appear in countries that recognized the totalitarian Spanish government, making an exception when he took part in a concert of chamber music in the White House on November 13, 1961, at the invitation of President Kennedy, whom he admired. Lightly toned and creased. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.