Considered one of the best exponents of what is called the “silver age” of Spanish literature, Federico García Lorca is today remembered as one of the greatest Spanish poets of the twentieth century.
Who was Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca (Fuente Vaqueros, June 5, 1898 – Víznar, August 19, 1936) was a Spanish poet and playwright.
It grows near Granada, in Andalucia, in one wealthy family composed of the father, rich landowner and the mother. A nurse is also included in the family nucleus, present from the first moments of the baby’s life as the mother had no way to breastfeed him. Of all the components, however, the mother has great artistic influence on the training of Federico who becomes passionate about music thanks to her.
After several years of living in the small town, he moved to the city where he attended the “Colegio del Sagrado Corazón” and then the university passing first through law and then definitively in letters.
During the youth years he experiences life in the gypsy neighborhoods by approaching a culture that he will then tell in his poetry, especially in “Romancero”. During this period he also met a number of intellectuals who became a real point of reference for his career.
The beginning of Federico García Lorca’s career
Around the age of twenty he moves to Madrid where he decides to continue his studies. Here it fits into the “Residencia de Estudiantes” an important meeting place where he met artists such as Salvador Dalì and Luis Buñuel. He remains there for the next nine years and in this period his begins literary production. It begins with the publication of “Libro de poemas” followed by the collections “Canciones” and “Poema del Cante jondo”. To these titles will be added others in line with surrealism accompanied by theatrical acts, a genre to which he gradually approaches.
To the artistic experimentation is added that sentimental. In fact, the author embarks on a passionate story with Emilio Aladrén who breaks his heart when he chooses to marry a woman. To this pain is also added a separation with the two dear friends he met in the residence and so, thanks to the help of Fernando de los Ríos, he obtains a scholarship for an experience in the United States. In this period he wrote one of his best productions or “Poeta en Nueva York”.
The success and death of Federico García Lorca
After the period at Columbia University is invited by friends to leave for Cuba and so begins a peaceful period for him. Here he meets many writers with whom he shares a passion for literature and with whom he works on literary magazines on the island. It also returns to approach the theatrical dramas, also inspired by the Afro-Cuban rhythms that populate the land that hosts it.
The return to Spain it seems apparently calm, except that a short time later the civil war begins. He refuses the possibility of moving elsewhere proposed to him to avoid the climate of repression and decides to take refuge with a friend. He cannot hide for long and on the morning of August 19, 1936 is shot on the street because accused of “homosexuality and other aberrations”. His death causes great sorrow, especially among his intellectual friends, such as Pablo Neruda. Once the regime of Francisco Franco is over, his works return to be enjoyed and protected as the great masterpiece they are.