José María Pemán y Pemartín (8 May 1897 in Cadiz – 19 July 1981, Ibid.) was a Spanish journalist, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, and

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

intellectual.

Biography

Originally a student of law, he entered the literary world with a series of poetic works inspired by his native

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

(''De la vida sencilla'', ''A la rueda, rueda'', ''El barrio de Santa Cruz'', and ''Las flores del bien''). In the 1930s he became a journalist. In 1935 he joined the Real Academia de la Lengua, of which he was the director from 1939 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. Pemán often blurred literary genres, and developed a unique style that may be described as equidistant between

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

and

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, not unfamiliar to readers of ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

'' and ''

El Alcázar ''El Alcázar'' (meaning ''The Fortress'' in English) was a Spanish language far-right newspaper published in Spain between 1936 and 1988. History and profile ''El Alcázar'' was established in 1936. The paper was founded as the principal nation ...

''. As a

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, he wrote historical-religious

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

(''El divino impaciente'' and ''Cuando las Cortes de Cádiz y Cisneros''), plays based on Andalusian themes (''Noche de levante en calma''), and comical costume dramas ('' Julieta y Romeo'' and ''El viento sobre la tierra''). Pemán adapted many classical works (including ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'', ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', and ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

''). He displayed his narrative skill in a series of novels and short stories (including ''Historia del fantasma y doña Juanita'', ''Cuentos sin importancia'', and ''La novela de San Martín''). He was also a noted

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist. In 1955 he received the Mariano de Cavia prize for journalism. In 1957, he won the ''March de Literatura'' prize. He was the personal advisor to the

Count of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, usages and Catalan constitutions, of ...

from 1969 until the title's dissolution. In 1981, a few months before his death he was named Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

. Pemán was one of the few prominent intellectuals to support

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

and the

Falangist Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...

movement. This ensured his professional success during and after 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 ...

, but damaged his international reputation. Pemán wrote a set of unofficial, popular lyrics for the ''

Marcha Real The (; "Royal March") is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only four national anthems in the world – along with those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino and Kosovo – that have no official lyrics. Although it had lyrics in the p ...

'', which Franco had reinstated as Spain's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

in 1939 in its original form as a purely instrumental piece, despite some popular misapprehensions concerning the official status of Eduardo Marquina's lyrics. Despite never being published in the BOE (Official State Bulletin), Pemán's lyrics continued in use during the Transition period by a few who remained nostalgic for the Franco era.

Selected filmography

* ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (1940) * '' Lola Montes'' (1944) * ''

Madness for Love ''Madness for Love'' ( es, Locura de amor, links=no) is a 1948 Spanish historical drama film directed by Juan de Orduña.Mira p.211 The movie is based on the play '' The Madness of Love'' written in 1855 by Manuel Tamayo y Baus around the figu ...

'' (1948) * '' The Duchess of Benameji'' (1949) * '' The Captain from Loyola'' (1949) * ''

Congress in Seville ''Congress in Seville'' (Spanish: ''Congreso en Sevilla'') is a 1955 Spanish musical film directed by Antonio Román and starring Carmen Sevilla, Fernando Fernán Gómez and Manolo Morán.de España, Rafael. ''Directory of Spanish and Portuguese Fi ...

'' (1955)

External links

Arakis ISP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peman, Jose Maria 1897 births 1981 deaths People from Cádiz Spanish Patriotic Union politicians Renovación Española politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Members of the Cortes Españolas Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Spanish essayists Spanish male novelists Writers from Andalusia Acción Española Spanish male poets Spanish male short story writers Spanish short story writers 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century male writers 20th-century Spanish novelists Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Knights of the Golden Fleece Spanish nationalists 20th-century essayists 20th-century Spanish journalists