HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the
Generation of '27 The Generation of '27 ( es, Generación del 27) was an influential group of poets that arose in Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. ...
, a group consisting mostly of poets who introduced the tenets of European movements (such as symbolism,
futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects suc ...
, and
surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
) into
Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature (Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects w ...
. He initially rose to fame with '' Romancero gitano'' (''Gypsy Ballads'', 1928), a book of poems depicting life in his native
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
. His poetry incorporated traditional Andalusian motifs and
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
styles. After a sojourn in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
from 1929 to 1930—documented posthumously in ''
Poeta en Nueva York ''Poet in New York'' (in Spanish, ''Poeta en Nueva York'') is one of the most important works of Spanish author Federico García Lorca. It is a body of poems composed during the visit of the poet to Columbia University in New York in the years ...
'' (''Poet in New York'', 1942)—-he returned to Spain and wrote his best-known plays, '' Blood Wedding'' (1932), ''
Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rura ...
'' (1934), and ''
The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not incl ...
'' (1936). García Lorca was gay and suffered from depression after the end of his relationship with sculptor . García Lorca had a close emotional relationship for a time with
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
, who said he rejected García Lorca's sexual advances. García Lorca was assassinated by
Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
forces at the beginning of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
. His remains have never been found, and the motive remains in dispute; some theorize he was targeted for being gay, a
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
, or both, while others view a personal dispute as the more likely cause.


Life and career


Early years

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was born on 5 June 1898, in
Fuente Vaqueros Fuente Vaqueros is a farming village in the province of Granada, Spain. It lies 17 km west of the city of Granada. Its population was recorded in 2005 as 4,590. The principal crops are asparagus, olives and apples. It is the birthplace of th ...
, a small town 17 km west of
Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...
, southern Spain. His father, Federico García Rodríguez, was a prosperous landowner with a farm in the fertile ''vega'' (valley) near Granada and a comfortable villa in the heart of the city. García Rodríguez saw his fortunes rise with a boom in the
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
industry. García Lorca's mother, Vicenta Lorca Romero, was a teacher. After Fuente Vaqueros, the family moved in 1905, to the nearby town of Valderrubio (at the time named Asquerosa). In 1909, when the boy was 11, his family moved to the regional capital of Granada, where there was the equivalent of a high school; their best-known residence there is the summer home called the Huerta de San Vicente, on what were then the outskirts of the city of Granada. For the rest of his life, he maintained the importance of living close to the natural world, praising his upbringing in the country.Maurer (2001) p. ix All three of these homes—Fuente Vaqueros, Valderrubio, and Huerta de San Vicente—are today museums. In 1915, after graduating from secondary school, García Lorca attended the
University of Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Ap ...
. During this time his studies included law, literature, and composition. Throughout his adolescence, he felt a deeper affinity for music than for literature. When he was 11 years old, he began six years of piano lessons with Antonio Segura Mesa, a harmony teacher in the local conservatory and a composer. It was Segura who inspired Federico's dream of a career in music. His first artistic inspirations arose from scores by
Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...
,
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
and
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
. Later, with his friendship with composer Manuel de Falla, Spanish folklore became his muse. García Lorca did not turn to writing until Segura's death in 1916, and his first prose works, such as "Nocturne", "Ballade", and "Sonata", drew on musical forms.Maurer (2001) p. x His milieu of young intellectuals gathered in El Rinconcillo at the Café Alameda in Granada. In 1916 and 1917, García Lorca traveled throughout Castile, León, and
Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...
, in northern Spain, with a professor of his university, who also encouraged him to write his first book, ' (''Impressions and Landscapes''—printed at his father's expense in 1918). Fernando de los Rios persuaded García Lorca's parents to let him move to the progressive,
Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...
-inspired
Residencia de Estudiantes The Residencia de Estudiantes, literally the "Student Residence", is a centre of Spanish cultural life in Madrid. The Residence was founded to provide accommodation for students along the lines of classic colleges at Bologna, Salamanca, Cambridge ...
in Madrid in 1919, while nominally attending classes at the University of Madrid.


As a young writer

At the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, García Lorca befriended Luis Buñuel and
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
and many other creative artists who were, or would become, influential across Spain. He was taken under the wing of the poet
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 hi ...
, becoming close to playwright Eduardo Marquina and Gregorio Martínez Sierra, the Director of
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
's Teatro Eslava. In 1919–20, at Sierra's invitation, he wrote and staged his first play, '' The Butterfly's Evil Spell''. It was a verse play dramatising the impossible love between a cockroach and a butterfly, with a supporting cast of other insects; it was laughed off the stage by an unappreciative public after only four performances and influenced García Lorca's attitude to the theatre-going public for the rest of his career. He would later claim that '' Mariana Pineda'', written in 1927, was, in fact, his first play. During the time at the Residencia de Estudiantes, he pursued degrees in law and philosophy, though he had more interest in writing than in study. García Lorca's first book of poems, ''Libro de poemas'', was published in 1921, collecting work written from 1918, and selected with the help of his brother Francisco (nicknamed Paquito). They concern the themes of religious faith, isolation, and nature that had filled his prose reflections.Maurer (2001) p. xi Early in 1922, at Granada García Lorca joined the composer Manuel de Falla in order to promote the Concurso de Cante Jondo, a festival dedicated to enhance
flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura a ...
performance and its
cante jondo ''Cante jondo'' (Andalusian ) is a vocal style in flamenco, an unspoiled form of Andalusian folk music. The name means "deep song" in Spanish, with ''hondo'' ("deep") spelled with J () as a form of eye dialect, because traditional Andalusian pr ...
style. The year before, García Lorca had begun to write his ' ("Poem of the Deep Song", not published until 1931), so he naturally composed an essay on the art of
flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura a ...
, and began to speak publicly in support of the ''Concurso''. At the music festival in June he met the celebrated
Manuel Torre Manuel Soto Loreto, known as Manuel Torre or Manuel Torres (1878 – 1933), was a Romani (Kalo) flamenco singer. Beginning Torre was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in the neighbourhood of San Miguel, which together with the neighbou ...
, a flamenco ''cantaor''. The next year in Granada he also collaborated with Falla and others on the musical production of a play for children, ''La niña que riega la albahaca y el príncipe preguntón'' (''The Girl that Waters the Basil and the Inquisitive Prince'') adapted by Lorca from an Andalusian story. Inspired by the same structural form of sequence as "Deep Song", his collection ''Suites'' (1923) was never finished and was not published until 1983. Over the next few years, García Lorca became increasingly involved in Spain's
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
. He published a poetry collection called ''Canciones'' (''Songs''), although it did not contain songs in the usual sense. Shortly after, Lorca was invited to exhibit a series of drawings at the Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona, from 25 June to 2 July 1927. Lorca's sketches were a blend of popular and avant-garde styles, complementing ''Canción''. Both his poetry and drawings reflected the influence of traditional Andalusian motifs, Cubist syntax, and a preoccupation with sexual identity. Several drawings consisted of superimposed dreamlike faces (or shadows). He later described the double faces as self-portraits, showing "man's capacity for crying as well as winning," in line with his conviction that sorrow and joy were as inseparable as life and death. '' Romancero gitano'' (''Gypsy Ballads'', 1928), part of his Cancion series, became his best known book of poetry.Maurer (2001) p. xii It was a highly stylised imitation of the ballads and poems that were still being told throughout the Spanish countryside. García Lorca describes the work as a "carved altar piece" of Andalusia with "gypsies, horses, archangels, planets, its Jewish and Roman breezes, rivers, crimes, the everyday touch of the smuggler and the celestial note of the naked children of Córdoba. A book that hardly expresses visible Andalusia at all, but where the hidden Andalusia trembles." In 1928, the book brought him fame across Spain and the Hispanic world, and it was only much later that he gained notability as a playwright. For the rest of his life, the writer would search for the elements of Andaluce culture, trying to find its essence without resorting to the "picturesque" or the clichéd use of "local colour".Maurer (2001) p. xiii His second play, '' Mariana Pineda'', with stage settings by Salvador Dalí, opened to great acclaim in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 1927. In 1926, García Lorca wrote the play '' The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'', which would not be shown until the early 1930s. It was a farce about fantasy, based on the relationship between a flirtatious, petulant wife and a hen-pecked shoemaker.From 1925 to 1928, he was passionately involved with Dalí. Although Dali's friendship with Lorca had a strong element of mutual passion, Dalí said he rejected the erotic advances of the poet. With the success of "Gypsy Ballads", came an estrangement from Dalí and the breakdown of a love affair with sculptor . These brought on an increasing depression, a situation exacerbated by his anguish over his
homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...
. He felt he was trapped between the persona of the successful author, which he was forced to maintain in public, and the tortured, authentic self, which he could acknowledge only in private. He also had the sense that he was being pigeon-holed as a "gypsy poet". He wrote: "The gypsies are a theme. And nothing more. I could just as well be a poet of sewing needles or hydraulic landscapes. Besides, this gypsyism gives me the appearance of an uncultured, ignorant and primitive poet that you know very well I'm not. I don't want to be typecast." Growing estrangement between García Lorca and his closest friends reached its climax when surrealists Dalí and Luis Buñuel collaborated on their 1929 film ''
Un Chien Andalou ''Un Chien Andalou'' (, ''An Andalusian Dog'') is a 1929 French silent short film directed by Luis Buñuel, and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Buñuel's first film, it was initially released in a limited capacity at Studio des Ursuline ...
'' (''An Andalusian Dog''). García Lorca interpreted it, perhaps erroneously, as a vicious attack upon himself. At this time Dalí also met his future wife Gala. Aware of these problems (though not perhaps of their causes), García Lorca's family arranged for him to make a lengthy visit to the United States in 1929–30. In June 1929, García Lorca travelled to the US with Fernando de los Rios on the RMS ''Olympic'', a sister liner to the RMS ''Titanic''. They stayed mostly in New York City, where Rios started a lecture tour and García Lorca enrolled at Columbia University School of General Studies, funded by his parents. He studied English but, as before, was absorbed more by writing than by study. At Columbia, he lived in John Jay Hall. He also spent time in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
and later in
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
, Cuba. His collection ''
Poeta en Nueva York ''Poet in New York'' (in Spanish, ''Poeta en Nueva York'') is one of the most important works of Spanish author Federico García Lorca. It is a body of poems composed during the visit of the poet to Columbia University in New York in the years ...
'' (''Poet in New York'', published posthumously in 1942) explores alienation and isolation through some graphically experimental poetic techniques and was influenced by the Wall Street crash which he personally witnessed. This condemnation of urban capitalist society and materialistic modernity was a sharp departure from his earlier work and label as a folklorist.Maurer (2001) p. xiv His play of this time, '' El público'' (''The Public''), was not published until the late 1970s and has never been published in its entirety, the complete manuscript apparently lost. However, the Hispanic Society of America in New York City retains several of his personal letters.


The Second Republic

García Lorca's return to Spain in 1930 coincided with the fall of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the establishment of the
Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...
. In 1931, García Lorca was appointed director of a student theatre company, Teatro Universitario La Barraca (The Shack). It was funded by the Second Republic's Ministry of Education, and it was charged with touring Spain's rural areas in order to introduce audiences to classical Spanish theatre free of charge. With a portable stage and little equipment, they sought to bring theatre to people who had never seen any, with García Lorca directing as well as acting. He commented: "Outside of Madrid, the theatre, which is in its very essence a part of the life of the people, is almost dead, and the people suffer accordingly, as they would if they had lost their two eyes, or ears, or a sense of taste. We a Barracaare going to give it back to them." His experiences traveling through impoverished rural Spain and New York (particularly amongst the disenfranchised African-American population), transformed him into a passionate advocate of the theatre of social action. He wrote "The theatre is a school of weeping and of laughter, a free forum, where men can question norms that are outmoded or mistaken and explain with living example the eternal norms of the human heart." While touring with ''La Barraca'', García Lorca wrote his now best-known plays, the "Rural Trilogy" of '' Blood Wedding'', ''
Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rura ...
'' and ''
The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not incl ...
'', which all rebelled against the norms of bourgeois Spanish society. He called for a rediscovery of the roots of European theatre and the questioning of comfortable conventions such as the popular drawing-room comedies of the time. His work challenged the accepted role of women in society and explored taboo issues of homoeroticism and class. García Lorca wrote little poetry in this last period of his life, declaring in 1936, "theatre is poetry that rises from the book and becomes human enough to talk and shout, weep and despair."Maurer (2001) pxv Travelling to Buenos Aires in 1933, to give lectures and direct the Argentine premiere of ''Blood Wedding'', García Lorca spoke of his distilled theories on artistic creation and performance in the famous lecture ''Play and Theory of the
Duende A duende is a humanoid figure of folklore, with variations from Iberian, Ibero American, and Filipino cultures, comparable to dwarves, gnomes, or leprechauns. In Spanish ''duende'' originated as a contraction of the phrase or , effectivel ...
''. This attempted to define a schema of artistic inspiration, arguing that great art depends upon a vivid awareness of death, connection with a nation's soil, and an acknowledgment of the limitations of reason. As well as returning to the classical roots of theatre, García Lorca also turned to traditional forms in poetry. His last poetic work, ''Sonetos de amor oscuro'' (''Sonnets of Dark Love'', 1936), was long thought to have been inspired by his passion for Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, young actor and secretary of La Barraca. Documents and mementos revealed in 2012, suggest that the actual inspiration was Juan Ramírez de Lucas, a 19-year-old with whom Lorca hoped to emigrate to Mexico. The love sonnets are inspired by the 16th-century poet San Juan de la Cruz.Maurer (2001) pxvii La Barraca's subsidy was cut in half by the rightist government elected in 1934, and its last performance was given in April 1936. Lorca spent summers at the Huerta de San Vicente from 1926 to 1936. Here he wrote, totally or in part, some of his major works, among them ''
When Five Years Pass ''So Let Five Years Pass'' ( es, Así que pasen cinco años), also known as ''If Five Years Pass'' and ''When Five Years Have Passed'', is a play by the 20th-century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1931 (Trader Faulkne ...
'' (''Así que pasen cinco años'') (1931), ''Blood Wedding'' (1932), ''Yerma'' (1934) and ''Diván del Tamarit'' (1931–1936). The poet lived in the Huerta de San Vicente in the days just before his arrest and assassination in August 1936. Although García Lorca's drawings do not often receive attention, he was also a talented artist.


Assassination

Political and social tensions had greatly intensified after the murder of prominent monarchist and anti- Popular Front spokesman José Calvo Sotelo by Republican Assault Guards ( Guardias de asalto). García Lorca knew that he would be suspect to the rising
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...
for his outspoken
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
views. Granada was so tumultuous that it had not had a mayor for months; no one dared accept the job. When García Lorca's brother-in-law, Manuel Fernández-Montesinos, agreed to accept the position, he was assassinated within a week. On the same day he was shot, 18 August, García Lorca was arrested. It is thought that García Lorca was shot and killed by Nationalist militia on 19 August 1936. The author Ian Gibson in his book ''The Assassination of García Lorca'' argues that he was shot with three others (Joaquín Arcollas Cabezas, Francisco Galadí Melgar and Dióscoro Galindo González) at a place known as the Fuente Grande ('Great Spring') which is on the road between Víznar and
Alfacar Alfacar is a historic town approximately from the city of Granada, in the autonomous Spanish region of Andalucia. In the 2005 census, INE reported its population as 5107 inhabitants. The town is on the edge of the Sierra de Huétor Natural Par ...
. Police reports released by radio station Cadena SER in April 2015, conclude that Lorca was executed by fascist forces. The Franco-era report, dated 9 July 1965, describes the writer as a "socialist" and "freemason belonging to the Alhambra lodge", who engaged in "homosexual and abnormal practices". Significant controversy exists about the motives and details of García Lorca's murder. Personal, non-political motives have been suggested. García Lorca's biographer, Stainton, states that his killers made remarks about his sexual orientation, suggesting that it played a role in his death. Ian Gibson suggests that García Lorca's assassination was part of a campaign of mass killings intended to eliminate supporters of the Leftist Popular Front. However, Gibson proposes that rivalry between the right-wing Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (CEDA) and the fascist
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
was a major factor in Lorca's death. Former CEDA Parliamentary Deputy
Ramón Ruiz Alonso Ramón Ruiz Alonso (1903–1982) was a Spanish politician who was a right-wing activist during the Second Spanish Republic and typographer by trade. Married to actress Magdalena Penella, they had four daughters: Terele Pávez (1939–2017), Ju ...
arrested García Lorca at the Rosales's home, and was the one responsible for the original denunciation that led to the arrest warrant being issued. It has been argued that García Lorca was apolitical and had many friends in both Republican and Nationalist camps. Gibson disputes this in his 1978 book about the poet's death. He cites, for example, '' Mundo Obrero''s published manifesto, which Lorca later signed, and alleges that García Lorca was an active supporter of the Popular Front. García Lorca read out this manifesto at a banquet in honour of fellow poet
Rafael Alberti Rafael Alberti Merello (16 December 1902 – 28 October 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called ''Silver Age'' of Spanish Literature, and he won numero ...
on 9 February 1936. Many anti-communists were sympathetic to García Lorca or assisted him. In the days before his arrest he found shelter in the house of the artist and leading
Falange The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
member Luis Rosales. Indeed, evidence suggests that Rosales was very nearly shot as well by the Civil Governor Valdés for helping García Lorca. Poet Gabriel Celaya wrote in his memoirs that he once found García Lorca in the company of Falangist José Maria Aizpurua. Celaya further wrote that Lorca dined every Friday with Falangist founder and leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera. On 11 March 1937, an article appeared in the Falangist press denouncing the murder and lionizing García Lorca; the article opened: "The finest poet of Imperial Spain has been assassinated." Jean-Louis Schonberg also put forward the 'homosexual jealousy' theory. The dossier on the murder, compiled in 1936, at Franco's request and referred to by Gibson and others without having seen it, has yet to surface. The first published account of an attempt to locate García Lorca's grave can be found in a 1949, book by British Hispanist Gerald Brenan ''The Face of Spain''. However, the grave has remained undiscovered.


Search for remains

In the 20th century there was speculation as to the location of Lorca's remains, for example by the hispanists Gerard Brenan and Ian Gibson, but attempts to locate and identify began in the 21st century. By this time, advances in technology gave scope for identifying remains of victims of Francoist repression. The year 2000, saw the foundation of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory which grew out of the quest by a sociologist, Emilio Silva-Barrera, to locate and identify the remains of his grandfather, who was shot by Franco's forces in 1936. Three attempts have been made to locate Lorca's remains. The first, in 2009, in the García Lorca Memorial Park; the second, in 2014, less than a kilometer from the first excavation and the last, in 2016, in Alfacar. In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation into Lorca's death. The García Lorca family dropped objections to the excavation of a potential gravesite near Alfacar, but no human remains were found. The investigation was dropped. A further investigation was begun in 2016, to no avail. In late October 2009, a team of archaeologists and historians from the University of Granada began excavations outside Alfacar. The site was identified three decades previously by a man who said he had helped dig Lorca's grave. Lorca was thought to be buried with at least three other men beside a winding mountain road that connects the villages of Víznar and Alfacar. The excavations began at the request of another victim's family. Following a long-standing objection, the Lorca family also gave their permission. In October 2009, Francisco Espínola, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry of the
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
n regional government, said that after years of pressure García Lorca's body would "be exhumed in a matter of weeks." Lorca's relatives, who had initially opposed an exhumation, said they might provide a DNA sample in order to identify his remains. In late November 2009, after two weeks of excavating the site, organic material that was believed to be human bones were recovered. The remains were taken to the University of Granada for examination. But in mid-December 2009, doubts were raised as to whether the poet's remains would be found. The dig produced "not one bone, item of clothing or bullet shell", said Begoña Álvarez, justice minister of Andalucia. She added, "the soil was only 40 cm (16in) deep, making it too shallow for a grave." The failed excavation cost €70,000. In January 2012, a local historian, Miguel Caballero Pérez, author of "The last 13 hours of García Lorca", applied for permission to excavate another area less than half a kilometre from the site, where he believes Lorca's remains are located. Claims in 2016, by Stephen Roberts, an associate professor in Spanish literature at Nottingham University, and others that the poet's body was buried in a well in Alfacar have not been substantiated. In 2021, it was reported that there would be an investigation of mass graves at Barranco de Viznar (a locality near Víznar where there is a memorial to Lorca). This project had the support of families who believe that relatives were buried there. The archaeologist directing the investigation explained that the poet was only one of hundreds of people whose remains might be there.


Censorship

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
's Falangist regime placed a general ban on García Lorca's work, which was not rescinded until 1953. That year, a (censored) ''Obras completas'' (''Complete Works'') was released. Following this, ''Blood Wedding'', ''Yerma'' and ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' were successfully played on the main Spanish stages. ''Obras completas'' did not include his late heavily homoerotic ''Sonnets of Dark Love'', written in November 1935 and shared only with close friends. They were lost until 1983/4 when they were finally published in draft form. (No final manuscripts have ever been found.) It was only after Franco's death that García Lorca's life and death could be openly discussed in Spain. This was not only because of political censorship, but also because of the reluctance of the García Lorca family to allow publication of unfinished poems and plays prior to the publication of a critical edition of his works. South African Roman Catholic poet Roy Campbell, who enthusiastically supported the Nationalists both during and after the Civil War, later produced acclaimed translations of Lorca's work. In his poem "The Martyrdom of F. Garcia Lorca", Campbell wrote,
Not only did he lose his life By shots assassinated: But with a hammer and a knife Was after that—translated.


Memorials

In Granada, the city of his birth, the Parque Federico García Lorca is dedicated to his memory and includes the Huerta de San Vicente, the Lorca family summer home, opened as a museum in 1995. The grounds, including nearly two hectares of land, the two adjoining houses, works of art, and the original furnishings have been preserved. There is a statue of Lorca on the Avenida de la Constitución in the city center, and a cultural center bearing his name is under construction and will play a major role in preserving and disseminating his works. The Parque Federico García Lorca, in Alfacar, is near Fuente Grande; in 2009, excavations in it failed to locate Lorca's body. Close to the olive tree indicated by some as marking the location of the grave, there is a stone memorial to Federico García Lorca and all other victims of the Civil War, 1936–1939. Flowers are laid at the memorial every year on the anniversary of his death, and a commemorative event including music and readings of the poet's works is held every year in the park to mark the anniversary. On 17 August 2011, to remember the 75th anniversary of Lorca's assassination and to celebrate his life and legacy, this event included dance, song, poetry and dramatic readings and attracted hundreds of spectators. At the Barranco de Viznar, between Viznar and Alfacar, there is a memorial stone bearing the words "''Lorca eran todos, 18-8-2002''" ("All were Lorca ..."). The Barranco de Viznar is the site of mass graves and has been proposed as another possible location of the poet's remains. García Lorca is honored by a statue prominently located in Madrid's Plaza de Santa Ana. Political philosopher
David Crocker David A. Crocker (born 4 October 1937), is Research Professor in the School of Public Policy, at the University of Maryland, he is also the founder and former president of the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA). His work has been c ...
reported in 2014 that "the statue, at least, is still an emblem of the contested past: each day, the Left puts a red kerchief on the neck of the statue, and someone from the Right comes later to take it off". In
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, the memory of García Lorca is honored on the Federico García Lorca Garden, in the center of the French capital, on the
Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...
. The Fundación Federico García Lorca, directed by Lorca's niece Laura García Lorca, sponsors the celebration and dissemination of the writer's work and is currently building the in Madrid. The Lorca family deposited all Federico documents in their possession with the foundation, which holds them on their behalf. Lorca's onetime room at the
Hotel Castelar Hotel Castelar was a hotel located at the northwest intersection of May and 9th of July Avenues, in the downtown Montserrat section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It operated from 90 years, closing in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. O ...
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived for six months in 1933, has been kept as a museum. In 2014, Lorca was one of the inaugural honorees in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a
walk of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields".


See also

* List of unsolved murders *
List of people who disappeared Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...


Major works


Poetry collections

* ' (''Impressions and Landscapes'' 1918) * ''Libro de poemas'' (''Book of Poems'' 1921) * ' (''Poem of Deep Song''; written in 1921 but not published until 1931) * ''Suites'' (written between 1920 and 1923, published posthumously in 1983) * ''Canciones'' (''Songs'' written between 1921 and 1924, published in 1927) * '' Romancero gitano'' (''Gypsy Ballads'' 1928) * ''Odes'' (written 1928) * ''Poeta en Nueva York'' (written 1930 – published posthumously in 1940, first translation into English as '' Poet in New York'' 1940) * ' (''Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías'' 1935) * ' (''Six Galician poems'' 1935) * ' (''Sonnets of Dark Love'' 1936, not published until 1983) * ''Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter and Other Poems'' (1937) * ''Primeras canciones'' (''First Songs'' 1936) * ' (''The Tamarit Divan'', poems written 1931–34 and not published until after his death in a special edition of ''Revista Hispánica Moderna'' in 1940). * ''Selected Poems'' (1941)


Select translations

* ''Poem of the Deep Song – Poema del Cante Jondo'', translated by Carlos Bauer (includes original Spanish verses). City Lights Books, 1987 * ''Poem of the Deep Song'', translated by
Ralph Angel Ralph Angel (May 2, 1951 – March 6, 2020) was an American poet and educator. Early life and education Born on May 2, 1951, in Seattle, Washington, Angel was a second-generation American of Sephardic Jewish descent. He attended inner-city publ ...
. Sarabande Books, 2006 * ''Gypsy Ballads: A Version of the Romancero Gitano of Federico García Lorca'' Translated by Michael Hartnett. Goldsmith Press 1973 * "Poet in New York-Poeta en Nueva York," translated by Pablo Medina and Mark Statman (includes original Spanish, with a preface by Edward Hirsch), Grove Press, 2008, ; 0-8021-4353-9 * ''Gypsy Ballads'', bilingual edition translated by
Jane Duran Jane Duran, born , is a Spanish-American poet, born in Cuba whilst her father was working as a diplomat in the country. Background Duran was born in Cuba to an American mother and a Spanish father, Gustavo Durán, who had fought with the Republ ...
and Gloria García Lorca.
Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
2016 * ''Sonnets of Dark Love'' - ''The Tamarit Divan'', bilingual edition translated by
Jane Duran Jane Duran, born , is a Spanish-American poet, born in Cuba whilst her father was working as a diplomat in the country. Background Duran was born in Cuba to an American mother and a Spanish father, Gustavo Durán, who had fought with the Republ ...
and Gloria García Lorca with essays by Christopher Maurer and Andrés Soria Olmedo.
Enitharmon Press Enitharmon Press is an independent British publishing house specialising in artists’ books, poetry, limited editions and original prints. The name of the press comes from the poetry of William Blake: Enitharmon was a character who represented ...
2016 * ''Yerma'', translated by Kathryn Phillips-Miles and Simon Deefholts, 2020. ISBN 978-1-9996453-9-9


Plays

* ''Christ: A Religious Tragedy'' (unfinished 1917) * '' The Butterfly's Evil Spell'': (written 1919–20, first production 1920) * '' The Billy-Club Puppets'': (written 1922–5, first production 1937) * '' The Puppet Play of Don Cristóbal'': (written 1923, first production 1935) * '' Mariana Pineda'' (written 1923–25, first production 1927) * ''The Curse of the Butterfly'', first production 1927 in the Teatro Eslava, Madrid * '' The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'': (written 1926–30, first production 1930, revised 1933) * '' The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden'': (written 1928, first production 1933) * ''
The Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
'': (written 1929–30, first production 1972); only an incomplete draft is known * ''
When Five Years Pass ''So Let Five Years Pass'' ( es, Así que pasen cinco años), also known as ''If Five Years Pass'' and ''When Five Years Have Passed'', is a play by the 20th-century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1931 (Trader Faulkne ...
'': (written 1931, first production 1945) * '' Blood Wedding'': (written 1932, first production 1933) * ''
Yerma ''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rura ...
'' (written 1934, first production 1934) * ''
Doña Rosita the Spinster ''Doña Rosita the Spinster'' ( es, Doña Rosita la soltera) is a period play by the 20th-century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It is subtitled "or The Language of the Flowers" and described as "a poem of 1900 Granada, divided into ...
'': (written 1935, first production 1935) * '' Play Without a Title'': (only one act, written 1936, first production 1986) * ''
The House of Bernarda Alba ''The House of Bernarda Alba'' ( es, La casa de Bernarda Alba) is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. Commentators have often grouped it with ''Blood Wedding'' and ''Yerma'' as a "rural trilogy". Garcia Lorca did not incl ...
'': (written 1936, first production 1945) * ''Dreams of my Cousin Aurelia'': (unfinished)


Short plays

* ''El paseo de Buster Keaton'' (''
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
goes for a stroll'' 1928) * ''La doncella, el marinero y el estudiante'' (''The Maiden, the Sailor and the Student'' 1928) * ''Quimera'' (''Dream'' 1928)


Filmscripts

* ''Viaje a la luna'' (''Trip to the Moon'' 1929)


Operas

* ''Lola, la Comedianta'' (''Lola, the Actress'', unfinished collaboration with Manuel de Falla 1923)


Drawings and paintings

* ''Salvador Dalí'', 1925. 160 × 140 mm. Ink and colored pencil on paper. Private collection, Barcelona, Spain * ''Bust of a Dead Man'', 1932. Ink and colored pencil on paper. Chicago, Illinois


Works related to García Lorca


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * Maurer, Christopher (2001) ''Federico García Lorca:Selected Poems'' Penguin


Further reading

* (477 pages) ::*Spanish translation: (411 pages). Includes excerpts from García Lorca's works. * * *. The plot of the novel centers around the investigation into Garcia Lorca's murder. *


External links


The Lorca Foundation

Huerta De San Vicente, Grandada
��The Lorca Family home now a museum

��article in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', 14 March 2009
LGB biography of García Lorca
* *
Federico Garcia Lorca Poems


��essay by Eisenberg, D.;
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Federico García Lorca was killed on official orders, say 1960s police files
��''The Guardian''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Lorca, Federico 1898 births 1930s missing person cases 1936 deaths 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century male writers 20th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights Columbia University School of General Studies alumni Columbia University alumni Executed Spanish people Executed writers Spanish-language poets Galician-language writers Gay writers Spanish gay writers Generation of '27 LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT Roman Catholics Spanish LGBT poets Male murder victims Missing person cases in Spain Modernist theatre People executed by Francoist Spain People executed by Spain by firearm People from the Province of Granada People killed in the Spanish Civil War Sonneteers Spanish dramatists and playwrights Spanish male dramatists and playwrights Spanish male poets Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War Spanish theatre directors Spanish writers University of Granada alumni Unsolved murders in Spain Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes Violence against LGBT people War crimes of the Spanish Civil War Writers from Andalusia Spanish murder victims Spanish anti-fascists Victims of the White Terror (Spain)