Concepción Méndez Cuesta (Madrid, 27 July 1898 – Coyoacán, Mexico, 7 December 1986) was a leading

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, Cana ...

poet and dramatist and member of the

Generation of '27 The Generation of '27 ( es, Generación del 27) was an influential group of poets that arose in Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. ...

who became known in the literary world under the name ''Concha Mendez''.

Early life

Concha was born into a well-to-do family and was educated in a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

school, studying music and art. She was highlighted as a gymnast and became a champion swimmer. In 1919 she decided to travel the world spending time in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

and

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. When she was nineteen she met

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

while vacationing in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

who became her first boyfriend. They were formally engaged for five years until she became tired of his insufferable character. Through this artistic atmosphere she became friends with

Rafael Alberti Rafael Alberti Merello (16 December 1902 – 28 October 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called ''Silver Age'' of Spanish Literature, and he won numerou ...

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, and

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 t ...

who encouraged her to join their group which become the

. Concha and Alberti shared a love for the sea and later in her life she considered him to be her mentor.Nicole Altamirano, "Out of the Glass Niche and into the Swimming Pool". In ''Mirrors and Echoes: Women's Writing in Twentieth-Century Spain'', 2007, p. 48 She published her first collection of poetry, ''Inquietudes'' (Concerns) in 1926. In 1931 Lorca introduced her to the poet and publisher from

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Manuel Altolaguirre Manuel Altolaguirre (29 June 1905 – 26 July 1959) was a Spanish poet, an editor, publisher, and printer of poetry, and a member of the Generation of '27. Biography Born in the Andalusia city of Málaga in 1905, Altolaguirre's collaborative poets ...

They were married the following year and together founded the printing press ''Verónica'' which edited the publication, ''Héroe'' (for which

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 ...

contributed lyrical character portraits of Spanish heroes) and ''1616''. The name ''1616'' commemorates the year of the deaths of

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

and

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and to foster literary relations between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

the poems were published in their original language as well as the translation.

Jorge Guillén Jorge Guillén Álvarez (; 18 January 18936 February 1984) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27, a university teacher, a scholar and a literary critic. In 1957-1958, he delivered the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard Un ...

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay w ...

and Moreno Villa were collaborators.

Spanish Civil War and exile

From 1933 to 1935, Concha and Manuel lived in

where their first child died in infancy and their daughter Paloma was born. 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 ...

they lived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. At the end of the Civil War they went into exile in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where they met

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

. In 1939 they left Paris and traveled to

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.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and reestablished their printing press, ''Verónica'', publishing a poetry collection called ''El ciervo herido'' (The Wounded Deer) between 1939 and 1943. In 1944, they both went to

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 ...

and later Manuel divorced Concha, leaving her for the Cuban actress/producer, María Luisa Gómez-Mena y Vivanco. They were both killed in a car accident while returning from the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

on 23 July 1959. From 1944 to 1979, she ceased publication except for a poetry anthology in 1976. Her last book, ''Vida o río'' (Life or River), appeared in 1979. In 1990, ''Memorias habladas, memorias armadas'' (Spoken Memories, Armed Memories) was published in Madrid. This was a work drawn from tapes that had been recorded by her granddaughter Paloma Ulacia Altolaguirre. In

the ''Calle Poeta Concha Méndez'' is named after her.

Writings

*''Inquietudes'' (Concerns), 1926 *''Surtidor'' (Source), 1928 *''El ángel cartero'' (The Mailman Angel), 1929 *''Canciones de mar y tierra'' (Songs of Land and Sea), 1930 *''Vida a vida'' (From Life to Life), 1932. Prologue by

*''El pez engañado 1933-1935'' (The Deceived Fish), 1935 *''El carbón y la rosa'' (The Coal and the Rose), 1935. Read by

at the Lyceum Club of Madrid, 1936 *''Niño y sombras'' (Child and Shadows), 1936 *''Prólogo de El solitario'' (Prologue to The Loner), 1938 *''Lluvias enlazadas'' (Interlocking Rains), 1939 *''El solitario (Amor)'' (The Loner, Love) 1941 *''Sombras y sueños'' (Shadows and Dreams), 1944 *''Villancicos de navidad'' (Christmas Carols), 1944 *''El solitario (Soledad)'' (The Loner, loneliness), 1945 *''Vida o río'' (Life or River), 1979 *''Memorias habladas, memorias armadas'', (Spoken Memories, Armed Memories), 1990 *''Poemas 1926-1986'', 1995. Edited by Professor James Valender, the husband of her granddaughter, Paloma *''Jeanne Marie, Los caminos del alma / Les Chemins de l’âme - memoria viva de los poetas del 27’ mémoire vive des poètes de la Génération de 1927'', éditions Paradigme Orléans

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Concha 1898 births 1986 deaths Writers from Madrid Generation of '27 Spanish feminists Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France Spanish women poets Women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Spanish women writers Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United Kingdom Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Cuba Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico Las Sinsombrero members