Francisco Canals Vidal (1922–2009) was a Spanish philosopher, theologian, academic and lay Catholic activist. The longtime chair of Catedra de Metafísica of the Barcelona University, he is recognized mostly as one of the most distinguished contemporary Thomists and leader of the so-called Barcelona Thomist school; his scientific focus was mostly on metaphysics of cognition. As a theologian he specialized in theology of history and Josephology, as lay Catholic he contributed to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Historian of ideas and partially political theorist himself, he remained related to the Carlist version of Traditionalism and is considered one of its greatest contemporary masters.
Family and youth
The Canals family is among the best-known in Catalonia; it gained both recognition and position in the 18th century, upon co-foundation, taking over and later management of , one of the first major textile plants in the region. The first identified direct ancestor of Francisco was his great-grandfather, Bernart Canals Papell; his son and Francisco's paternal grandfather, Emilio Canals Moret (1841-1907), was active in the Conservative Party and in 1902 entered its Barcelona Junta Ejecutiva. He married María Paz Arrieta Acuña; the couple had at least 10 children, one of them was Francisco's father, Manuel Canals Arrieta (1877-1938). The latter married Carolina Tay Sucre and fathered one child before his wife died. Remarried, he wed Manuela Vidal Cabot (1886-1973). The couple lived in Barcelona and had 5 children; Francisco was born as the youngest of the siblings.
The children were brought up in a fervently religious ambience. Francisco was first educated in the Piarist school at calle Diputación; in 1932, already in course of his secondary education, he moved to Colegio del Sagrado Corazón, also in Barcelona. One source claims he frequented the college until 1939, another one that living in the Republican-controlled Barcelona, he attended various establishments and obtained bachillerato shortly after the end of the Civil War. He first intended to study mathematics, but abandoned the curriculum shortly and in 1940 joined the Jesuit seminar in Veruela. His novitiate lasted only few months before Canals left the Jesuits. Disoriented and unsure about his future, bowing to the pressure of own family he decided to pursue the career of a notary and in 1943 enrolled at law in the University of Barcelona. Before graduation in 1946 and considering juridical studies introduction to general education, he commenced studying Philosophy and Letters; he graduated in 1950. In the late 1940s Canals assumed auxiliary teaching duties at Universidad de Barcelona.
In 1950 Canals married Isabel Suris Fábrega; none of the sources consulted provides any information on her or her family. The couple settled in Barcelona and had 11 children. Most of them pursued career in business or as professionals; some grew to local prominence and are known in Catalonia: Manuel Canals Suris followed in the footsteps of his father and is a philosopher and anthropologist, Francesc Canals Suris is a scientist in biochemistry and head of Proteomics Lab in the Barcelona University Hospital, Carme Canals Suris is a hematologist. José María Canals Suris is active in politics related to Traditionalism; as a candidate of Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate, in 2004 from Albacete and in 2008 from Girona.
Academic
Having graduated in Filosofía y Letras, in the early 1950s Canals decided to dedicate himself to philosophy and commenced PhD research, supervised by Jaime Bofill. His dissertation, El logos, ¿indigencia o plenitud? was accepted at the University of Madrid in 1952. Another PhD thesis, Cristianismo y Revolución, was accepted by Department of Law of the University of Barcelona in 1956. Though he performed minor teaching roles since 1949, his attempts to land chairs of Metafísica in Valencia and Derecho Político in Barcelona proved unsuccessful, yet with the latter he was contracted out to teach teoría de conocimiento. In 1958 he commenced teaching at Insituto Jaime Balmes, a prestigious Barcelona college, admitted also to Cuerpo de Catedráticos Numerarios de Institutos Nacionales de Enseñanza Media. He taught at the Institute until the mid-1960s.