5 8 4 D O C . 3 7 9 T R A V E L D I A R Y (see Roca Rossell 2005, p. 30, and Sallent del Colombo and Roca Rossell 2005, p. 74). On 27 February, Einstein toured two innovative schools, the Escola del Mar, an experimental school for physically disabled children, established in 1922, and the Grupo Escolar “Baixeras.” At noon, a reception was held at the Consell de Cent del Ayuntamiento (the Barcelona City Hall). Einstein was officially welcomed by Acting Mayor Enric Maynés in Catalan and granted the status “illustrious guest” (“huésped ilustre”). The mayor praised Einstein’s scientific genius and his ethics and pacifism. In his reply, Einstein thanked the mayor for the city’s warm welcome and expressed his pleasure that the mayor’s speech revealed a desire for an improvement of the political and national discourse (see La Veu de Catalunya, 28 February 1923, Morning Edition). According to another re- port, he wished for Barcelona “a new human community that would overcome every political and per- sonal rancor” (Diario de Barcelona, 28 February 1923) English translation from Glick 1988, p. 113 and Ulrich von Hassell to Auswärtiges Amt, 26 February 1923 [GyBPAAA/R 64 677]). In the evening, Einstein lectured at the Real Academia de Ciencias y Artes de Barcelona (the Roy- al Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona) on the philosophical consequences of relativity and the cosmological implications of a finite universe. The audience was more limited than at the more popular lectures. One of the attendees was Josep Comas Solà, an astronomer and opponent of relativ- ity, who visibly showed his discomfort with Einstein’s lecture (see El Debate, 2 March 1922). On 6 March, Einstein was nominated as a corresponding member of the physical sciences section of the Academy by Bernat Lassaleta i Perrin, the mathematician Ferran Tallada, and the physicists Ramon Jardí and Tomàs Escriche i Mieg (for the official nomination, see ES-BaACA Archives, “Prof. Ein- stein y la Reial Acadèmia de Ciències i Arts de Barcelona,” 6 March 1923, Doc. 4). Following the lecture, Einstein received a delegation from the anarcho-syndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) at the Ritz Hotel. They accompanied him to their headquarters in the Baixa de Sant Pere. The delegation included two prominent leaders of the CNT, Angel Pestaña and Joaquín Maurin. Pestaña introduced Einstein at the meeting. Einstein expressed his surprise at the high degree of illiteracy in Spain (which had been cited by Pestaña), and stated that he believed that repression was caused by stupidity rather than by evil. He urged members of the working class to read Spinoza. Some reports also claimed that Einstein remarked to Pestaña: “I too am a revolutionary, but in the area of science. I am concerned with social questions, as are other scientists, because they con- stitute one of the most interesting aspects of human life” (see El Diluvio and El Noticiero Universal, 28 February 1923, and Glick 1988, pp. 108–109). This quote was widely disseminated in the Spanish and international press. However, Einstein strongly denied the utterance in a subsequent interview with a reporter for the Spanish newspaper ABC, stating: “I said that I am not a revolutionary, not even in the scientific area …” (“Dije que no soy revolucionario, ni siquiera en el terreno científico …” ABC, 2 March 1923 Glick 1988, pp. 109–112 and Turrión Berges 2005, p. 47). In the evening, Campalans hosted a farewell banquet for the Einsteins. Prominent attendees were Terradas and the German-speaking Catalan nationalist politician Miquel Vidal i Guardiola. The menu was written in “relativistic Latin” and contained references to Einstein’s theories and to other physi- cists who were thought to have paved the way for relativity (see La Publicitat, 28 February 1923 Glick 1988, pp. 120–121 and Sallent del Colombo and Roca Rossell 2005, p. 72). On 28 February, Einstein visited the Escola Industrial de Barcelona, as a guest of a school with a clear socialist agenda that fostered education and technology. His host was its director, Rafael Cam- palans. Einstein witnessed a performance of the sardana, the Catalan national dance, by the La Penya de la Dansa troupe and was given records, presumably of music for sardanas. He then toured the port of Barcelona. At 7 P.M., he held his third lecture in the relativity series, which dealt with current prob- lems in relativity (see La Veu de Catalunya, 1 March 1923 Glick 1988, pp. 119–120 and Roca Ros- sell 2005, p. 30). [258]Following the entry for 22–28 February, Einstein left one complete page and eighteen lines on the next page blank. [259]Einstein departed Barcelona by train on the morning of 1 March. Ulrich von Hassell. Accord- ing to Hassell’s reports, Einstein appeared in Barcelona “always as a German, not as a Swiss” (“stets als Deutscher, nicht als Schweizer in Erscheinung trat” Ulrich von Hassell to Auswärtiges Amt, 26 February 1923 [GyBPAAA/R 64 677]).