Francisco "Paco" Ibáñez (born 20 November 1934 in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

) is a Spanish singer and musician. He never composed his own lyrics, but used famous poems, like those of

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

Luis Cernuda Luis Cernuda Bidón (September 21, 1902 – November 5, 1963) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. During the Spanish Civil War, in early 1938, he went to the UK to deliver some lectures and this became the start of an exile ...

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Miguel Hernández Miguel Hernández Gilabert (30 October 1910 – 28 March 1942 ) was a 20th-century Spanish-language poet and playwright associated with the Generation of '27 and the Generation of '36 movements. Born and raised in a family of low resources, he ...

. He also sang compositions from

Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...

Life

He went to France in 1952 and recorded his first album in 1964. During the events in France of May 1968, he performed in the Sorbonne and became known as a rebel artist.

Early life

The youngest of four siblings, he was born to a

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

father and a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

mother. He spent his first years in Barcelona, only returning there in 1994 after a long exile; his family had had to flee to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

due to his father's membership of the anarcho-syndicalist CNT union. They lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

until the beginning of the German occupation of France, when his father was arrested and deported to an internment camp for Spanish Republican prisoners. His mother took their four children back to

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

to find work, and they lived together in her family's ancestral home in Aduna, Guipuzkoa, until he was 14.

Connection with the Basque Country

His Basque mother and the period of his childhood spent on his mother's birth farm influenced Ibáñez to have an intense relationship with Basque artists and intellectuals such as

Imanol Larzabal Imanol Larzabal Goñi (November 11, 1947 in San Sebastián - June 25, 2004 in Orihuela), known as Imanol, was a Basques, Basque Spain, Spanish singer and composer, and a champion of Basque language and culture. He went into exile from the Southern ...

Xabier Lete Xabier Lete Bergaretxe (Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa, April 5, 1944 - Donostia, December 4, 2010) was a Basque writer, poet, singer, and politician. He started to write from an early age, and he often published articles in the magazine "Zeruko Argia". In 196 ...

Jorge Oteiza Jorge Oteiza (October 21, 1908 – April 9, 2003), was a Basques, Basque Spain, Spanish sculpture, sculptor, painting, painter, designer and writing, writer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, renowned for being one of th ...

and

Bernardo Atxaga Bernardo Atxaga (born 27 July 1951), pseudonym of Joseba Irazu Garmendia, is a Spanish Basque writer and self-translator. He is a full member of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language since 2006, in November 2010, he was also named a member ...

, and to participate as well in the movement

Ez Dok Amairu Ez Dok Amairu was the name of a Basque language, Basque avant-garde cultural movement that between 1966 and 1972 dedicated itself to recovering Basque culture and renewing it. Background Emerging within the Euskal Kantagintza Berria (''New Basq ...

. He has sung and recorded in the Basque language such as the album ''Oroitzen'' (1999), a recording made with Imanol Larzabal.

Discography

*Paco Ibanez Vol.1 (1964) *Paco Ibanez Vol.2 (1967) *Paco Ibanez Vol.3 (1969) *A Flor de Tiempo (1978) *Canta Brassens (1979) *Por Una Cancion (1990) *Oroitzen, with

(1999) *Canta a Jose A Goytisolo (2002) *Fue Ayer (2003)

Live

*En el Olympia (1969) *A galopar (1991)

References

External links

Official site

Music CityComplete discography

Video in Valldoreix (Barcelona)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibanez, Paco 1934 births Living people University of Paris people Musicians from Valencia Spanish musicians