José María De Pereda
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José María de Pereda y Sánchez de Porrúa (born 6 February 1833, Polanco,
Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...
– died 1 March 1906, Polanco) was a Spanish novelist, and a Member of the
Royal Spanish Academy 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 Hispanophon ...
.


Life

Pereda was educated at the Institute Cántabro of Santander, whence he went in 1852 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 ...
, where he studied with the vague purpose of entering the
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corps. Abandoning this design after three years' trial, he returned home and began his literary career by contributing articles to a local journal, ''La Abeja montañesa'' in 1858. He also wrote much in a weekly paper, ''El Tío Cayetano'', and in 1864 he collected his powerful realistic sketches of local life and manners under the title of ''Escenas montañesas'' (''Mountain scenes''). Pereda fought against the revolution of 1868 in ''El Tío Cayetano'', writing the newspaper almost single-handed. In 1871 he was elected as the
Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
deputy for Cabuérniga. In this same year he published a second series of ''Escenas montañesas'' under the title of ''Tipos y paisajes''; and in 1876 appeared ''Bocetos al temple'', three tales, in one of which the author describes his disenchanting political experiences. The ''Tipos trashumantes'' belongs to the year 1877, as does ''El Buey suelto'', which was intended as a reply to the thesis of Balzac's work, ''Les Petites misères de la vie conjugale''. More and more pessimistic as to the political future of his country, Pereda took occasion in ''Don Gonzalo González de la Gonzalera'' (1879) to ridicule the Revolution as he had seen it at work, and to pour scorn upon the '' nouveaux riches'' who exploited
Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
for their personal ends. Two novels by his friend Pérez Galdós, '' Doña Perfecta'' and ''Gloria'', drew from Pereda a reply, ''De Tal palo tal astilla'' (1880), in which he endeavours to show that tolerance in religious matters is disastrous alike to nations and to individuals. The ''Esbozos y rasguños'' (1881) is of lighter material, and is less attractive than ''El Sabor de la Tierruca'' (1882), a striking piece of landscape which won immediate appreciation. New ground was broken in ''Pedro Sánchez'' (1883), where Pereda leaves his native province to portray the disillusion of a sincere enthusiast who has plunged into the political life of the capital. Pereda's masterpiece is ''Sotileza'' (1884), a vigorous rendering of marine life. In ''La Puchera'' (1889) he returned to the marine subjects which he knew and loved best. Again, in ''Peñas arriba'' (1895), the love of country life is manifested in the masterly contrast between the healthy fields and the corrupt, squalid cities. Pereda's fame was now established; the statutes of the Spanish Academy, which require members to reside at Madrid, were suspended in his favor (1896). But his literary career was over. The death of his eldest son, the disastrous campaign in
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and the
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(during the
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), darkened his closing years, and his health failed long before his death. Pereda belongs to the native realistic school of Spain, which, founded by the unknown author of ''
Lazarillo de Tormes ''The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities'' ( ) is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its anticlerical content. It was published simultaneously in three cities in 1554: Alcalá de Henares, Burgos a ...
'', was continued by Mateo Alemán,
Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...
,
Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...
and many others. He saw, knew, understood character; he created not only types, but living personages, such as Andres, Cleto and Muergo in ''Sotileza'', Pedro Juan and Pilara in ''La Puchera''; and he personified the tumult and calm of the sea with more power than Víctor Hugo displayed in '' Les Travailleurs de la mer''.


References

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereda, Jose Maria de 1833 births 1906 deaths People from the Besaya Valley Spanish monarchists Writers from Cantabria Carlists Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Spanish male novelists 19th-century Spanish novelists