Enrique Díez-Canedo Reixa (

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

, January 7, 1879 –

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

, June 6, 1944), was a Spanish

postmodernist Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

poet, translator and literary critic.

Early life

His maternal relatives came from an

Extremadura Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...

n village called Alburquerque, but during his early years the family moved successively to

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, Port Bou,

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 ...

, and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

; in this last city his parents died in a short period of time. Being an orphan, he moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to study Law and, once he graduated and settle down, taught art history at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios, and French language and literature at the Escuela Central de Idiomas.

Career

He sympathised with Krauseanism and was a denizen of the Ateneo, where he organized a number of acts (homages to

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (18 January 1867 – 6 February 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as '' modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

Benito Pérez Galdós Benito María de los Dolores Pérez Galdós (; 10 May 1843 – 4 January 1920) was a Spanish Spanish Realist literature, realist novelist. He was a leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Mi ...

and

Mariano de Cavia Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana (disambiguation), Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius (name), Marius, and Marius d ...

; and presentations like the one with

José María Gabriel y Galán José María Gabriel y Galán (28 June 1870, in Frades de la Sierra (Salamanca) - 6 January 1905, in Guijo de Granadilla, Cáceres, España) was a Spanish poet in Castilian and Extremaduran. He was a teacher in Guijuelo (Salamanca) & Pied ...

). He frequented the gathering of the Café Regina, where he became friend of

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain, Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the la ...

, and started his poetic path publishing his first poems in ''Versos de las horas'', 1906. At the same tame, he started to collaborate with the press through ''

El Liberal ''El Liberal'' was a Spanish liberal newspaper published in Madrid between 1879 and 1936. It was one of the leading papers of Spain under the Restoration. Between 1890 and 1906, ''El Liberal'' was edited by Miguel Moya (1856–1920), a leading ...

'', where he publishes in 1903 a poem with an award given by that newspaper. This collaboration was followed by others in the magazine ''Renacimiento'', and shortly after that his activities in journalism extend to literary and art criticism. He collaborates as a poetry critic in the magazine '' La Lectura'', as an art critic in ''Diario Universal'' and in ''Faro'', a publication that popularized the ideas of young men such as

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; ; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

, Adolfo Posada, Gabriel Maura and

Pedro de Répide Pedro de Répide Gallegos (8 February 1882 – 16 February 1948) was a Spanish writer and journalist based in Madrid. Biography Pedro de Répide Gallegos studied law, philosophy and liberal arts at the Complutense University of Madrid, and by t ...

. He also worked for ''Revista Latina'' and the ''Revista Crítica'', directed by Francisco Villaespesa and

Carmen de Burgos Carmen de Burgos y Seguí (pseudonyms, Colombine, Gabriel Luna, Perico el de los Palotes, Raquel, Honorine and Marianela; Almería, December 10, 1867 – Madrid, October 9, 1932) was a Spanish journalist, writer, translator and women's rights ac ...

respectively. As a theatre critic he started with a series of articles in ''El Globo'', 1908. He was among the contributors of the Madrid-based avant-garde magazine ''

Prometeo ''Prometeo'' (''Prometheus'') is an "opera" by Luigi Nono, written between 1981 and 1984 and revised in 1985. Here the word "opera" carries the generic Italian meaning of "works", as in work of art, and not its usual meaning in English. Indeed, ...

''.

Diplomatic career

He was in Paris between years 1909 and 1911 as a secretary of the Ecuadorian ambassador. That didn't interrupt his journalist work, because he also wrote in ''España'', ''El Sol'', ''La Voz'', ''La Pluma'' and ''Revista de Occidente''. He also wrote for

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

, from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In 1921 he collaborated with

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 ...

in the making of the magazine ''Índice'', because of his friendship with the Spanish poet.

Mentor

Díez-Canedo also was involved in some publications with the purpose of introducing new writers and, for example, he published the first verses of

León Felipe León Felipe Camino Galicia (11 April 1884 – 18 September 1968) was an anti-fascist Spanish poet who also worked as a professor of literature in Spain and the US. Biography Felipe was born in Tábara, Zamora, Spain, while his parents w ...

in the magazine ''España'' and also helped

to publish some of his collaborations in ''El Sol''. Thanks to him, a poem by

Gerardo Diego Gerardo Diego Cendoya (October 3, 1896 – July 8, 1987) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. Diego taught language and literature at institutes of learning in Soria, Gijón, Santander and Madrid. He also acted as lite ...

was published in ''España''. He also helped with reviews and critic articles about the works they were publishing. Among other numerous examples, it can be mentioned the case of ''Versos Humanos'', by

, of which he made an acute critic in

Translator

As a translator, he worked mainly with material from English and French, but also from Catalan and German. He translated authors like

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...

Francis Jammes Francis Jammes (; 2 December 1868, in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tournay – 1 November 1938, in Hasparren) was a French and European poet. He spent most of his life in his native region of Béarn and the Northern Basque Country, Basque Country ...

Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Seigneur de Montaigne ( ; ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), commonly known as Michel de Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the the essay ...

John Webster John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

, Eugenio d'Ors and

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

. Already in the middle of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

, he collaborated with ''Hora de España and participated in the Second International Writers in Defense of the Culture Congress; he directed the ''Madrid'' magazine as well. In 1935 he was elected as a member of the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanopho ...

Works

*''Versos de las horas'', 1906, poetry. *''La visita del sol'', 1907, poetry. *''La sombra del ensueño'', 1910, poetry. *''Imágenes'', 1910, poetry. *''Sala de retratos'', 1920, prose. *''Conversaciones literarias'', 1921, literary criticism. *''Algunos versos'', 1924, poetry. *''Epigramas americanos'', 1928, poetry. *''Los dioses en el Prado'', 1931.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diez-Canedo 1879 births 1944 deaths People from Badajoz Spanish literary critics Spanish poets Spanish translators Writers from Extremadura Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Catalan–Spanish translators English–Spanish translators French–Spanish translators German–Spanish translators Portuguese–Spanish translators 20th-century Spanish writers Spanish male poets Ambassadors of Spain to Argentina Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico