Enrique Díez Canedo (

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

, January 7, 1879 –

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, June 6, 1944), was a Spanish

postmodernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

poet, translator and literary critic.

Early life

His maternal relatives came from an

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

n village called Alburquerque, but during his early years the family moved successively to

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, Port Bou,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

; in this last city his parents died in a short period of time. Being an orphan, he moved to

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 ...

to study Law and, once he graduated and settle down, taught art history at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios, and French language and literature at the Escuela Central de Idiomas.

Career

He sympathised with Krauseanism and was a denizen of the Ateneo, where he organized a number of acts (homages to

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as ''modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

Benito Pérez Galdós Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish Spanish Realist literature, realist novelist. He was the leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes ...

and Mariano de Cavia; and presentations like the one with

José María Gabriel y Galán José María Gabriel y Galán (28 June 1870, in Frades de la Sierra (Salamanca) - 6 January 1905, in Guijo de Granadilla, Cáceres, España) was a Spanish poet in Castilian and Extremaduran. He was a teacher in Guijuelo (Salamanca) & Pied ...

). He frequented the gathering of the Café Regina, where he became friend of

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

, and started his poetic path publishing his first poems in ''Versos de las horas'', 1906. At the same tame, he started to collaborate with the press through ''

El Liberal ''El Liberal'' was a Spanish liberal newspaper published in Madrid between 1879 and 1936. It was one of the leading papers of Spain under the Restoration. Between 1890 and 1906, ''El Liberal'' was edited by Miguel Moya (1856–1920), a leading Sp ...

'', where he publishes in 1903 a poem with an award given by that newspaper. This collaboration was followed by others in the magazine ''Renacimiento'', and shortly after that his activities in journalism extend to literary and art criticism. He collaborates as a poetry critic in the magazine ''

La Lectura ''La Lectura'' was a Spanish language monthly science, literary and arts magazine which was published in Madrid, Spain, between 1901 and 1920. Its subtitle was ''Revista de ciencias y artes''. History and profile ''La Lectura'' was founded by th ...

'', as an art critic in ''Diario Universal'' and in ''Faro'', a publication that popularized the ideas of young men such as

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

Adolfo Posada Adolfo may refer to: * Adolfo, São Paulo, a Brazilian municipality * Adolfo (designer), Cuban-born American fashion designer * Adolfo or Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in Ge ...

Gabriel Maura Gabriel Maura Gamazo, 1st Duke of Maura (Madrid 1879 – Madrid 1963) was a Spanish politician and historian. He was the son of Antonio Maura - who was Prime Minister of Spain on five occasions. Gabriel was active in the Liberal-Conservative ...

and Pedro de Répide. He also worked for ''Revista Latina'' and the ''Revista Crítica'', directed by

Francisco Villaespesa Francisco Villaespesa Martín (14 October 1877–9April 1936) was a Spanish writer. He was born in Láujar de Andarax, Province of Almería, which marked him all his life. He is probably the most notable writer of the province, thus, both th ...

and

Carmen de Burgos Carmen de Burgos y Seguí (pseudonyms, Colombine, Gabriel Luna, Perico el de los Palotes, Raquel, Honorine and Marianela; Almería, December 10, 1867 – Madrid, October 9, 1932) was a Spanish journalist, writer, translator and women's rights act ...

respectively. As a theatre critic he started with a series of articles in ''El Globo'', 1908. He was among the contributors of the Madrid-based avant-garde magazine ''

Prometeo ''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning. Indeed, Nono scornf ...

''.

Diplomatic career

He was in Paris between years 1909 and 1911 as a secretary of the Ecuadorian ambassador. That didn't interrupt his journalist work, because he also wrote in ''España'', ''El Sol'', ''La Voz'', ''La Pluma'' and ''Revista de Occidente''. He also wrote for

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

, from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In 1921 he collaborated with

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

in the making of the magazine ''Índice'', because of his friendship with the Spanish poet.

Mentor

Díez-Canedo also was involved in some publications with the purpose of introducing new writers and, for example, he published the first verses of

León Felipe León Felipe Camino Galicia (11 April 1884 – 17 September 1968) was an anti-fascist Spanish poet. Biography Felipe was born in Tábara, Zamora, Spain, while his parents were travelling. His father was a public notary and comfortably off. ...

in the magazine ''España'' and also helped

to publish some of his collaborations in ''El Sol''. Thanks to him, a poem by

Gerardo Diego Gerardo Diego Cendoya (October 3, 1896 – July 8, 1987) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. Diego taught language and literature at institutes of learning in Soria, Gijón, Santander and Madrid. He also acted as literar ...

was published in ''España''. He also helped with reviews and critic articles about the works they were publishing. Among other numerous examples, it can be mentioned the case of ''Versos Humanos'', by

, of which he made an acute critic in

Translator

As a translator, he worked mainly with material from English and French, but also from Catalan and German. He translated authors like

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...

Francis Jammes Francis Jammes (; 2 December 1868, in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées – 1 November 1938, in Hasparren, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) was a French and European poet. He spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn and the Basque Country and his po ...

Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

Eugeni d'Ors Eugenio d'Ors i Rovira (; Barcelona, 28 September 1882 – Vilanova i la Geltrú, 25 September 1954) was a spanish people, Spanish writer, essayist, Journalism, journalist, Philosophy, philosopher and Art criticism, art critic. He wrote in both C ...

and

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

. Already in the middle of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he collaborated with ''Hora de España and participated in the Second International Writers in Defense of the Culture Congress; he directed the ''Madrid'' magazine as well. In 1935 he was elected as a member of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

Works

*''Versos de las horas'', 1906, poetry. *''La visita del sol'', 1907, poetry. *''La sombra del ensueño'', 1910, poetry. *''Imágenes'', 1910, poetry. *''Sala de retratos'', 1920, prose. *''Conversaciones literarias'', 1921, literary criticism. *''Algunos versos'', 1924, poetry. *''Epigramas americanos'', 1928, poetry. *''Los dioses en el Prado'', 1931.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diez-Canedo 1879 births 1944 deaths People from Badajoz Spanish literary critics Spanish poets Spanish translators Writers from Extremadura Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Catalan–Spanish translators English–Spanish translators French–Spanish translators German–Spanish translators Portuguese–Spanish translators 20th-century Spanish writers Spanish male poets Ambassadors of Spain to Argentina Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico