Florentino Álvarez Mesa (1846–1926) was a Spanish journalist, writer and politician. He was born in 1846 in

Avilés Avilés (; ) is a town in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is, along with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main cities in the Principality of Asturias. The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, partially in a land that belonged to the sea, ...

, Asturias. During his childhood he spent some years 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 ...

before returning to Avilés. His first writings appeared in 1886 in the newspaper ''El Eco de Avilés''. On 1889 he founded the weekly ''La Luz de Avilés'' that was published until 1890, when he developed an interest in political writing and liberalism and began writing under the pseudonym Fray Zurriago de Rondiella. Later he founded ''El Diario de Avilés'' and was director until the paper was put out of production in 1914. He also collaborated with numerous other local papers and journalists. In 1907 he began publishing ''Crónicas avilesinas'' in the magazine ''Asturias'' of

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. He served as Mayor of Avilés from 1891 to 1907 when he retired to his estate property of El Caliero in

Pravia Pravia is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias in Spain. It is bordered on the north by Cudillero and Muros de Nalón, on the east by Candamo and Soto del Barco, on the west by Cudillero and Salas, Asturias ...

. He died in 1926.

Bibliography

LLiteratu Revista cultural Autores Asturianos Álvarez Mesa, Florentino
*Juan Carlos de la Madri

People from Avilés 19th-century Spanish journalists 19th-century Spanish writers 19th-century Spanish male writers 20th-century Spanish writers 20th-century Spanish male writers 1846 births 1926 deaths Mayors of places in Asturias {{Asturias-politician-stub