José María Sánchez-Silva y García-Morales (11 November 1911 – 13 January 2002) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

writer. He received the

Hans Christian Andersen Medal The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

in 1968 for his contribution to

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. He is best known for his novel ''Marcelino Bread and Wine'' (1953) which was filmed in 1955, as ''

Miracle of Marcelino ''Miracle of Marcelino'' ( es, Marcelino, pan y vino, "Marcelino, bread and wine") is a 1955 Spanish film written by José Maria Sanchez-Silva, based on his novel, and directed by Ladislao Vajda. It starred, Juan Calvo (who also starred together ...

''.See page 186 of ''World Literature in Spanish: An Encyclopedia'' by Maureen Ihrie, Salvador Oropesa, 3 volumes, 1294 ages, . On lin

/ref>

Early life

Sánchez-Silva was born 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 ...

. His father, also José María Sánchez Silva, was a journalist close to anarchism, writing in the journal ''Earth'', who went into exile in 1939. The family had been unstructured and the son (Sánchez-Silva) at times was practically a vagrant child. He joined institutions for orphans and children at risk such as Del Pardo School of Madrid (dependent on the City Council of Madrid). In these institutions he learned typing and shorthand, which earned him a stenographer's position in Madrid.

Career

In 1934, he published his first book ''The Man in the Scarf''. 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 ...

, he remained in the Republican zone in Madrid, working with the

Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...

until

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

troops entered the city. In 1939, he began working as a journalist in the newspaper ''Arriba''. He became assistant principal of the paper and collaborated with the newspaper ''El Pueblo''. Sánchez-Silva won fame as a result of ''Marcelino Bread and Wine'' (''Marcelino, pan y vino'', 1953), which was made into a film by

Ladislao Vajda Ladislao Vajda (born Weisz László; 18 August 1906, Budapest – 25 March 1965, Barcelona) was a Hungarian-Spanish film director who made films in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and West Germany. Biography He was born in Budapest, ...

as ''

'', and became one of the great successes of Spanish cinema worldwide. It was further adapted into Marcelino (anime). After the success of Marcelino, he returned to the character in stories ''Marcelino Pan y Vino'' and ''Adventures in the sky Marcelino Pan y Vino''. Together with

José Luis Sáenz de Heredia José Luis Sáenz de Heredia (10 April 1911 – 4 November 1992) was a Spanish film director. He was born in Madrid. His film ''Ten Ready Rifles'' was entered into the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. Filmography * ''Patricio miró ...

, he was the author of the screenplay of the movie ''

Franco, ese hombre ''Franco, ese hombre'', translated into English as ''Franco, that man'', is a 1964 documentary film by Spanish director José Luis Sáenz de Heredia. It follows the military and political career of the Spanish Head of State Francisco Franco until ...

'', a biography in the ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

''.

Awards

The biennial

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

conferred by the

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

is the highest recognition available to a writer or illustrator of children's books. Sánchez-Silva received the writing award in 1966. He won the Spanish prize for literature in 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez-Silva, Jose Maria 1911 births 2002 deaths Spanish children's writers Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing winners Place of death missing 20th-century Spanish journalists