Spanish poet Garcia Lorca: biography, creativity

The famous Spaniard Federico García Lorca in the art of the twentieth century has long been one of the most significant figures. His legacy went beyond the national culture and defined the main ways of development of artistic creativity not only in literature, but also in painting, music, theater and cinematography. Lorca's verses have been translated into many languages of the world.

From the biography of the poet

Federico Garcia Lorca was born on June 5, 1898 in the small town of Fuente Vaqueros, the municipal center of the province of Granada. The childhood and the youth of the poet passed there. Bright and versatile talents of the young man were noticed very early, which allowed young Federico to actively participate in the life of the provincial art community. At the University of Granada, Garcia Lorca studied several courses at once: jurisprudence, philosophy and literature. At the age of nineteen, the Spanish poet publishes the first collection of poems "Impressions and landscapes." This book was noted by the capital's criticism and brought him fame outside of his native province.

In the capital

After moving to Madrid in 1919, Federico Garcia Lorca finds himself in a company of people, many of whom will later be called classics of the twentieth century. The most famous among them are Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. Verses of Lorca were known and in demand in the Spanish capital, which provided him with creative cooperation with the theater "Eslav". At the suggestion of the director of this collective, Martinez Sierra, he wrote the play "Sorcery and Butterflies", which was successfully staged in 1920. A bohemian bohemian life the poet tries to combine with the training in the capital's university. Among his students he was listed until 1928. All this time the poet works hard in different genres. In the capital's publishing houses, his verse collections are published. The works of the young poet with interest are read by the most diverse public, are discussed and quoted in the press.

The artist-avant-gardist

For the Western European artistic world, the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century were an era of great change. Revolutionary re-thinking and destruction were subjected to many centuries-old traditional forms. Along with his supporters and associates in the heart of this process was and Federico Garcia Lorca. His biography is closely connected with the history of the artistic avant-garde. It is impossible not to note the mutual influence that the creators of the new art rendered each other. The works of the twentieth century titans - Salvador Dali, Luis Buñuel, Pablo Picasso, Federico García Lorca - would have looked different if these artists had worked separately from each other. Characteristically, in addition to poetry and drama, the Spanish poet's creative heritage also includes works of painting and graphics.

"Romany romance"

One of the brightest of his poetic collections Garcia Lorca devoted to the world of the Romany song. In the traditional culture of the southern provinces of Spain, the Roma component always occupied a worthy place. But in the poems of Garcia Lorca, the characteristic images of the Gypsy world were able to spark in new colors. The freshness and unusualness of the poetic collection "Romany Romancero", published in 1928, lies in the fact that the poet managed to convey the usual figurative mythology of Gypsy folklore with the expressive means of the artistic avant-garde of the beginning of the twentieth century.

In NYC

The desire to move overseas to a greater or lesser extent is experienced by many people of creative professions. A significant part of the European intellectual elite was on the other side of the Atlantic in anticipation of the impending catastrophe of the world war. But Federico Garcia Lorca went to America long before the caterpillars of the tanks rumbled along the roads of Europe. For the poet, this visit was an attempt to break through to new creative horizons. It is difficult to say how destined his plans were to be realized, but in New York the poet works a lot and publishes new books. In less than two years of his American career, Garcia Lorca wrote plays "The Public" and "When Five Years Go By." And the lyrics of this period were the poetic book The Poet in New York. But the Spanish poet did not have to count on the significant success of his work in the English-speaking environment.

Return to Spain

In the early thirties on the Iberian peninsula, political turbulence is growing. It was with this process that the return of Federico Garcia Lorca from America coincided. But he returned home to a well-known writer and playwright, whose plays have continued with success in many theaters. In 1931, the poet was invited to head the student theater "La Bakkara." Accepting this proposal, Garcia Lorca combines administrative activities with intense literary work. During this period, he wrote two plays, included in the golden fund of Spanish literature - "The House of Bernard Alba" and "Bloody Wedding". Ahead there were many new ideas, which were never to be realized.

Death of poet

In the rapidly escalating civil war throughout Spain, Federico García Lorca did not express any sympathy for any of the opposing sides. Perhaps he believed that remaining above the fight, you can feel safe on both sides of the barricade. But the depth of his delusion, he managed to understand only when it was impossible to fix anything. Garcia Lorca knew perfectly well that Granada was captured by the Spanish fascists when he went to his native province in August 1936. However, he did not attach any significance to this fact. The last days of the poet have very little reliable information. It is known only that he was arrested on August 16, 1936 and shot the next day by the verdict of the governor of Granada Valdez Guzman. Extremely contradictory information about what was put to the poet. According to some sources, these are several poems with a characteristic expressive surrealistic imagery. Allegedly, they insulted the religious and moral feelings of the fascist governor. And other sources say that the poet was incriminated with unconventional sexual orientation.

But it is impossible to reliably find out today not only what was the charges brought against the poet, but also where the place of his execution and the grave. The body of the poet was not found in 2008 when the burials of the thirties were opened. And this fact reinforces the existing version that Federico García Lorca was not shot. It is impossible to exclude the possibility that the poet escaped death and then completely lost in the whirlpool of the civil war.