José María Pemán y Pemartín (8 May 1897 in Cadiz – 19 July 1981, Ibid.) was a Spanish journalist, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, and

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

intellectual.

Biography

Originally a student of law, he entered the literary world with a series of poetic works inspired by his native

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

(''De la vida sencilla'', ''A la rueda, rueda'', ''El barrio de Santa Cruz'', and ''Las flores del bien''). In the 1930s he became a journalist. He was elected to seat ''i'' 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 ...

on 7 December 1939, he took up his seat on 20 December 1939. He was the director of the royal academy from 1939 to 1940 and 1944 to 1947. Pemán often blurred literary genres, and developed a unique style that may be described as equidistant between

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

, not unfamiliar to readers of '' ABC'' and '' El Alcázar''. As a

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

, he wrote historical-religious verse (''El divino impaciente'' and ''Cuando las Cortes de Cádiz y Cisneros''), plays based on Andalusian themes (''Noche de levante en calma''), and comical costume dramas ('' Julieta y Romeo'' and ''El viento sobre la tierra''). Pemán adapted many classical works (including ''

Antigone ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP). History ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...

'', ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'', and ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...

''). He displayed his narrative skill in a series of novels and short stories (including ''Historia del fantasma y doña Juanita'', ''Cuentos sin importancia'', and ''La novela de San Martín''). He was also a noted

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist. In 1955 he received the Mariano de Cavia prize for journalism. In 1957, he won the ''March de Literatura'' prize. He was the personal advisor to the

Count of Barcelona The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...

from 1969 until the title's dissolution. In 1981, a few months before his death he was named Knight of the

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece (, ) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in 1430 in Brugge by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to celebrate his marriage to Isabella of Portugal, Duchess of Burgundy, Isabella of Portugal. T ...

. Pemán was one of the few prominent intellectuals to support

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

and the Falangist movement. This ensured his professional success during and after 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 ...

, but damaged his international reputation. Pemán wrote a set of unofficial, popular lyrics for the ''

Marcha Real The (; ) is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only four national anthems in the world – along with those of National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Inno Nazionale della Repubblica, San Marino and Anthem o ...

'', which Franco had reinstated as Spain's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

in 1939 in its original form as a purely instrumental piece, despite some popular misapprehensions concerning the official status of Eduardo Marquina's lyrics. Despite never being published in the BOE (Official State Bulletin), Pemán's lyrics continued in use during the Transition period by a few who remained nostalgic for the Franco era.

Selected filmography

* ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' (1940) * '' Lola Montes'' (1944) * '' Madness for Love'' (1948) * '' The Duchess of Benameji'' (1949) * '' The Captain from Loyola'' (1949) * '' Congress in Seville'' (1955)

Notes

References

External links

Arakis ISP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peman, Jose Maria 1897 births 1981 deaths People from Cádiz Spanish Patriotic Union politicians Renovación Española politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Members of the Cortes Españolas Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Spanish essayists Spanish male novelists Writers from Andalusia Acción Española Spanish male poets Spanish male short story writers Spanish short story writers 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish male writers 20th-century Spanish novelists Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Spanish nationalists 20th-century Spanish essayists 20th-century Spanish journalists Spanish writers