Darío Villalba Flórez (February 22, 1939 – June 16, 2018) was a Spanish painter, photographer, and competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. He represented Spain at the 1956 Winter Olympics where he placed 14th.

Life and career

Darío Villalba Flórez was born on February 22, 1939, in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. He began skating at age 11 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where his father was serving as the Spanish consul. He returned to Spain when he was 14 years old. As the only rink in Spain was small and of poor quality, his parents sent him to

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

, France, where he was taught by a German coach, Thea Frenssen. At the age of 16, he represented Spain at the 1956 Winter Olympics in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

, Italy. He placed 14th of 16 competitors in the men's singles event. He then finished 15th at the 1956 World Championships in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, Germany. In 1983 he received Spain's National Award for Plastic Arts. In 2002, Villalba became a member of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...

Competitive highlights

Bibliography

* Luis Gonzales-Robles, ''Darío Villalba'', Galleria del Naviglio, Milan, 1970 *

Giancarlo Politi Giancarlo Politi (born 1937 in Trevi, Italy) is an art critic and publisher, mainly known for being the founder of ''Flash Art'' magazine. Magazine Politi was born in Trevi, in Umbria. He had a brief spell as an artist and poet before turning to ...

, ''Darío Villalba'', Galeria Vandres, Madrid, 1974

References

1939 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from San Sebastián Basque artists Spanish painters Spanish contemporary artists Spanish male single skaters Olympic figure skaters of Spain Figure skaters at the 1956 Winter Olympics {{Spain-figure-skating-bio-stub