[1] He spent his early years in Italy until the rise of fascism there compelled the family to return to the United Kingdom.
[1] Physically unfit for military service, Traversi instead was sent to the British Institute of Madrid where he forged a bond with the director and fellow Catholic Walter Starkie.
[1] It was during his stay in Spain that Traversi began submitting articles for the Catholic journals The Month, The Dublin Review and Blackfriars.
[5] Traversi had frequent close encounters with the Guardia Civil owing to his seeming to wander into officially prohibited areas.
[1] In 1943 Traversi set up the Barcelona branch of the British Institute, on Passeig de Gràcia, where he organized musical evenings, cocktail parties and conferences, for intellectuals and cultural figures like Carles Riba, Margot Fonteyn and Joan-Antoni Maragall i Noble.