Carlos Semprún Maura (23 November 1926 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

– 23 March 2009 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a Spanish writer, playwright and journalist, mainly working in the French language.

Biography

The son of the Spanish politician, writer and diplomat José María Semprún Gurrea (1893-1966) and Susana Maura Gamazo, the youngest daughter of

Antonio Maura Antonio Maura Montaner (2 May 1853 – 13 December 1925) was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions. Early life Maura was born in Palma, on the island of Mallorca, and studied law in Madrid. In 1878, Maura married Constanci ...

who served several times as prime minister of Spain, he was the brother of the writer

Jorge Semprún Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived cland ...

, father of Diego Semprún and uncle of the essayist

Jaime Semprún Jaime Semprún (26 July 1947 – 3 August 2010) was a French essayist and translator. He was born and died in Paris. Biography The son of Jorge Semprún and nephew of the writer Carlos Semprún, Jaime Semprún was close to the film director Phili ...

and the tennis player

Pablo Semprún Pablo Semprún (born August 5, 1964 in Madrid, Spain) is a former Spanish tennis and padel tennis player. He founded th''Pablo Semprún Sport Center'' a padel tennis academy and sport center. Paddle tennis achievements * 5 times Spain's ch ...

. From 1936 he remained outside of his native Spain (his father José María Semprún Gurrea was a diplomat to the Republican government during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

) and later continued in exile after Franco's victory. He was a militant member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

of Spain during its first years, but left the Party before the expulsion of his brother Jorge. He continued his anti-Francoist militancy in other left-wing groups. In the magazine that published 'Acción Comunista' he signed articles with the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Lorenzo Torres. In the 2000s his ideological "evolution" placed him in very critical positions towards the left in general. He called himself liberal, anti-communist and said that democracy was only possible in capitalism.An Appreciation of the Semprún Brothers - Revista de Libros- 8 January 1988
/ref> He was a film critic for ''

Diario 16 ''Diario 16'' (Spanish for "Daily 16" or "Newspaper 16") was a Spanish-language daily newspaper published in Madrid, Spain, between 1976 and 2001. The ''16'' of the title refers to the sixteen founders of Grupo 16, publishers of the weekly news m ...

'' and regularly collaborated in ''

Libertad Digital ''Libertad Digital'' (literally, ''Digital Freedom'') is an advocacy journalism online newspaper edited in Madrid, Spain. It does not follow a particular party line, but it claims to be classic liberal, It is published in Spanish. Origins ...

'' and ''La Ilustración Liberal'' with his 'Cosmopolitan Chronicles' and his 'Letter of Paris', being one of its first columnists. He wrote over 50 plays: in 1971 his play ''The Sleeping Man'' was performed at the Théâtre du Lucernaire in Paris starring

Pascale de Boysson Pascale de Boysson (16 April 1922–9 August 2002) was a French film, television and stage actress who also adapted and translated plays for the French stage. She was a two-time winner of the Molière Award, winning it in 1988 and posthumously ...

and was directed by

Laurent Terzieff Laurent Terzieff (27 June 1935, in Toulouse – 2 July 2010, in Paris) was a French actor. Biography Terzieff was the son of French ceramistFallece en París Carlos Semprún Maura
- ''

'' - 23 March 2009

Books

* ''Revolution and Counterrevolution in Catalonia (1936-1937)'', Tusquets, Barcelona, 1978. Version in Spanish * ''Neither God nor Master, nor CNT'', Tusquets, Barcelona 1978. * ''Life and lie of Jean-Paul Sartre'', Nossa and Jara, Madrid, 1996. * ''Dust lines and other stories'', Pre-Texts, Valencia, 1997. * ''The Exile Was a Party'', Planeta, Barcelona, 1999. * ''The Prodigious Adventures'', Seix Barral, Barcelona, 2004. * ''On the Banks of the Seine, a Spanish ...'' , Madrid, Hoja Perenne, 2006

References

External links

Revolution and Counterrevolution in Catalonia (1936-1937) by Carlos Semprún Maura

Opinion articles by Carlos Semprún Maura in Libertad DigitalSpecial supplement after the death of Carlos Semprún Maura
*Jaime Céspedes, "The ideological evolution of Carlos Semprún Maura", "Regards", No. 19, Université Paris 10 - Nanterre, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Semprun, Carlos 1926 births 2009 deaths Writers from Madrid 20th-century Spanish writers 20th-century male writers 21st-century Spanish writers Spanish writers in French Spanish communists Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Diario 16 people Semprún family