Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña (born in Vilanova de Arousa, Galicia,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, on October 28, 1866, and died in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

on January 5, 1936) was a Spanish dramatist, novelist, and member of the Spanish Generation of 98. His work was considered radical in its subversion of the traditional Spanish theatre in the early 20th century. He influenced later generations of Spanish dramatists and is honored on National Theatre Day with a statue in Madrid.

Biography

Ramón María del Valle-Inclán was the second son of Ramón Valle-Inclán Bermúdez and Dolores de la Peña y Montenegro. As a child he lived in Vilanova and A Pobra do Caramiñal, and then he moved to

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

in order to study high school. In 1888 he started to study law at University of Santiago de Compostela, and there he published his first story, ''Babel'', at the ''Café con gotas'' magazine. He left his studies and 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 ...

in 1890, where he wrote for various periodical newspapers such as ''El Globo'', ''La Ilustración Ibérica'' or ''

El Heraldo de Madrid The ''Heraldo de Madrid'' (originally ''El Heraldo de Madrid'') was a Spanish daily newspaper published from 1890 to 1939, with an evening circulation. It came to espouse a Republican leaning in its later spell. History The publication was fo ...

''. He traveled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in 1892 to write for ''El Universal'', ''El Correo Español'' and ''El Veracruza,'' before the following year returning to

to write his first book, ''Femeninas (Feminine)'', published in 1895. In 1895, he moved to

again, working as an official at the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. In

he did some translations of José Maria de Eça de Queirós,

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

, Gabriele D'Annunzio,

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitl ...

Paul Alexis Antoine Joseph Paul Alexis (16 June 1847 – 28 July 1901) was a French novelist, dramatist, and journalist. He is best remembered today as the friend and biographer of Émile Zola. Life Alexis was born at Aix-en-Provence. He attended the Co ...

and

Matilde Serao image:Picture of Matilde Serao.jpg, Matilde Serao, by "Rossi" Matilde Serao (; ; 14 March 1856 – 25 July 1927) was an Italian journalist and novelist. She was the first woman called to edit an Italian newspaper, Il ''Corriere di Roma'' and late ...

. In spite of his economic difficulties, he started to have a name in the ''tertulias'' (literary gatherings) of many culturally significant coffeehouses in

, such as Café Gijón, and to be noticed for his dandy attitude and his eccentric looks. His hot temper got him involved in various affrays. Because one of those, at Café de la Montaña in 1899, an unfortunate stick wound by writer Manuel Bueno caused one of his cufflinks to inlay in his arm. The wound produced gangrene, and Valle-Inclán had his arm amputated. That same year of 1899, he met

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 ...

, and both of them became good friends. At that time, he published his first theater play, ''Cenizas (Ashes)'', and he started a very prolific literary period. In 1907 he married the actress Josefina Blanco. In 1910 he traveled for six months to various Latin American countries (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

) escorting his wife on an acting tour. In 1913 he returned to Galicia, and set his residence in Cambados. Then, after the death of his second son, he moved to A Pobra do Caramiñal. In 1916 he published in the Cuban magazine Labor Gallega a poem in

Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...

with the title of ''Cantiga de vellas (Son of old women)'', which is his most valuable contribution to Galician literature. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he supported the allied army, visiting the front in various occasions as a war correspondent for '' El Imparcial''. In 1921 he traveled to

again, invited by the President of the Republic,

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 19 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) was a Mexican general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but was assassinated b ...

. There he participated in many literary and cultural events, and got conquered by the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. On his way back to

, he spent two weeks in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. That same year, 1921, he was appointed President of the International Federation of Latin American Intellectuals. He returned to

at the end of 1921, and there he started to write ''Tirano Banderas (Tyrant Banderas)''. He went back to

in 1922, still inflamed by the spirit of the

. Since 1924 he showed his opposition to

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

's dictatorship. With the arrival of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, he ran in the elections with the Partido Radical of

Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held sever ...

, but he did not get a seat. In 1932, Josefina Blanco filed for divorce. The same year, he was appointed Director of the Museum of

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of the Tagus, a bit upstream of the discharge of the Jarama. , the munici ...

and President of the Ateneo of Madrid. Also, the government of the Second Spanish Republic appointed him Curator of the National Artistic Heritage, but his confrontations with the Ministry because of the bad state of the palaces and museums under his direction forced his resigning. In 1933 he was the director of the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He died in

, Galicia,

, on January 5, 1936.

Works

His early writings were in line with French symbolism and modernism; however, his later evolution took his works to more radical formal experiments. He despised literary realism and openly disregarded

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 ...

, its most prominent Spanish representative. His political views, accordingly, changed from traditional absolutism (in Spain known as Carlismo) towards

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. This also caused him problems. All his life he struggled to live up to his Bohemian ideals, and stayed loyal to his aestheticist beliefs. However, he had to write undercover for serialised popular novels. Works by Valle-Inclán such as ''Divine Words'' (''Divinas palabras'') and '' Bohemian Lights (Luces de Bohemia)'' attack what he saw as the

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

, moralising and

sentimentality Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Sentimentalism in philosophy is a view in ...

of the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

playwrights, satirise the views of the ruling classes and target particular concepts such as masculine honour,

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

and servile attitudes toward the Crown and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His dramas also featured irreverent portrays of figures from Spain's political past and deployed crude, obscene language and vulgar imagery in a mocking attack on theatrical blandness. In addition to being politically subversive, though, Valle-Inclán's plays often required staging and direction that went far beyond the abilities of many companies working in the commercial theatre, often featuring complex supernatural

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

and rapid, drastic changes of scene. For this reason, some of his works are regarded as

closet drama A closet drama is a play (theatre), play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader. The earliest use of the term recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is in 1813. The literary historian Henry Augustin Beers, H ...

s. Valle-Inclán also wrote major novels including the ''Tyrant Banderas'' (''Tirano Banderas''), which was influential on the Latin American 'dictator' novel (for example, '' I, the Supreme'' by

Augusto Roa Bastos Augusto Roa Bastos (13 June 1917 – 26 April 2005) was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. ...

), although it was received with disdain by many Latin American authors. Rufino Blanco Fombona, for example, pokes fun of "the America of tambourine" ("la América de pandereta") of that novel where you could be in the jungle one day and the Andes the next. Some critics view him as being the Spanish equivalent to

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

; however, due to a lack of translations his work is still largely unknown in the English-speaking world, although his reputation is slowly growing as translations are produced. Diego Martínez Torrón has studied and published ''El ruedo ibérico'', the first annotated edition of this work, a lot of unpublished manuscripts of this work.Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Manuscritos inéditos de ''"El ruedo ibérico"'', Sevilla, Renacimiento/UCOpress Editorial Universidad de Córdoba, 2019 (Col. Los Cuatro Vientos, 154)

Plays

*''Cenizas. Drama en tres actos'' (1899) *'' El marqués de Bradomín. Coloquios románticos'' (1907) *''Águila de blasón. Comedia bárbara'' (1907) *''Romance de lobos. Comedia bárbara'' (1908) *''El yermo de las almas'' (1908) *''Farsa infantil de la cabeza del dragón'' (1909) *''Cuento de abril. Escenas rimadas en una manera extravagante'' (1910) *''Farsa y licencia de la Reina Castiza'' (1910) *''Voces de gesta. Tragedia pastoril'' (1911) *''El embrujado. Tragedia de tierras de Salnés'' (1913). *''La marquesa Rosalinda. Farsa sentimental y grotesca'' (1913) * ''Divine Words''-''Divinas palabras. Tragicomedia de aldea'' (1919) *''Farsa italiana de la enamorada del rey'' (1920) *''Farsa y licencia de la Reina Castiza'' (2nd edition, 1920) * ''Bohemian Lights''-''Luces de bohemia. Esperpento'' (1920) (12 scenes) *''Silver Face'' ''Cara de Plata. Comedia bárbara (1922) *''¿Para cuándo son las reclamaciones diplomáticas? '' (1922) * ''Bohemian Lights''-''Luces de bohemia. Esperpento'' (2nd edition, enhanced, 1924) (15 scenes) *''La rosa de papel. Novela macabra'' (1924) *''La cabeza del Bautista. Novela macabra'' (1924) *''Los cuernos de don Friolera. Esperpento'' (1925) *''Tablado de marionetas para educación de príncipes'' (1926). Contains: ''Farsa y licencia de la Reina Castiza'', ''Farsa italiana de la enamorada del rey'', ''Farsa infantil de la cabeza del dragón'' *''El terno del difunto'' (1926) (renamed as ''Las galas del difunto'' in 1930) *''Ligazón. Auto para siluetas'' (1926) *''La hija del capitán. Esperpento'' (1927) *''Sacrilegio. Auto para siluetas'' (1927) *''Retablo de la avaricia, la lujuria y la muerte'' (1927). Contains: ''Ligazón. Auto para siluetas'', ''La rosa de papel'', ''La cabeza del Bautista'', ''El embrujado'', ''Sacrilegio. Auto para siluetas'' *''Martes de Carnaval. Esperpentos'' (1930). Contains: ''Las galas del difunto'' (''El terno del difunto''), ''Los cuernos de don Friolera. Esperpento'', ''La hija del capitán. Esperpento''

Prose

* ''The Pleasant Memoirs of the Marquis de Bradomín'' – ''Sonatas: Memorias del Marqués de Bradomín'' ** ''Spring and Summer Sonatas'' – ''Sonata de primavera y Sonata de estío'' (1904 and 1903) ** ''Autumn and Winter Sonatas'' – ''Sonata de otoño y Sonata de invierno'' (1902 and 1905) * ''Flor de santidad'' (1904) * ''La pipa de kif'' (lyric poem) (1919) * ''Tyrant Banderas'' – ''Tirano Banderas'' (1926) * ''Mr Punch the Cuckold'' * ''The Lamp of Marvels ''

Adaptations

Film

* 1948: '' L'Amore'' (second episode based on ''Flor de santidad'') * 1959: ''

Sonatas In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...

'' (based on ''Sonatas: Memorias del Marqués de Bradomín'') * 1973: ''Flor de santidad'' * 1976: '' Beatriz'' (based on ''Beatriz y Mi hermana Antonia'') * 1977: '' Divinas palabras'' * 1985: ''Luces de bohemia'' * 1987: '' Divinas palabras'' * 1993: '' Banderas, the Tyrant''

References

External links

* * *
Works by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán
at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
Biography and bibliography of Ramón María del Valle-Inclán
at Escritores.org

by Spain's Centro Dramático Nacional in the ''New York Times'', 2007
House-Museum in A Pobra do Caramiñal

House-Museum in Vilanova de Arousa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valle-Inclan, Ramon Del 1866 births 1936 deaths People from O Salnés Writers from Galicia (Spain) Spanish male dramatists and playwrights Spanish novelists Spanish male novelists Spanish male short story writers 19th-century Spanish novelists 19th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights Spanish amputees Writers with disabilities 19th-century short story writers 19th-century Spanish male writers 20th-century Spanish short story writers 20th-century Spanish male writers Spanish writers