He was the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan language was the School Pompeu Fabra and Laura.

He was the last of twelve children born to Josep Fabra i Roca and his wife Carolina Poch i Martí.

[1] Through the journal and publishing house Tipografia de L'Avenç [Wikidata], he participated in a campaign to reform Catalan orthography between 1890–92.

Probably his most famous work was the Diccionari General de la Llengua Catalana (1932), the first edition of which later became the Institute's official dictionary.

[1] Fabra was reinstated as a professor after the elections of February 1936, but in July of that year the Spanish Civil War began and he had to flee his country when Barcelona was invaded by Franco's army.