Alejandro Sawa Martínez (15 March 1862 – 3 March 1909) was a Spanish bohemian novelist, poet, and journalist. Born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Sawa was of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

origin. His father was an importer of wine and sundries. After a brief flirtation with the priesthood and a stint at the seminary of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, he underwent a sudden conversion to vehement

anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...

and thereafter studied law in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. He arrived in Madrid in 1885, "absurd, brilliant, and starving" ( Valle-Inclán, ''Bohemian Lights''). There he led an impoverished, marginal existence. In 1889, he was lured to Paris by its artistic scene. For a time he worked on the staff of the Garnier publishing house, editing an encyclopedic dictionary, and had ample opportunity to strike up friendships with many of the luminaries of Parnassian and

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

literature, though he himself preferred the Romanticism of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

. He translated the works of the

Goncourt brothers The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to ...

and enjoyed what he would later regard as his "golden years". He married a Burgundian, Jeanne Poirier, and fathered a girl, Elena. On his return to Madrid in 1896 he plunged headfirst into journalism, serving as editor of ''El Motín'', ''El Globo'', and ''La Correspondencia de España'', and as a contributor to ''

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

'', ''Madrid Cómico'', ''España'', and ''Alma Española'', among others. His last years were marked by his descent into blindness and mental illness. Ironically, it was this period that yielded his only artistic success, a stage adaptation of

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ' ...

's ''Kings in Exile'', in the winter of 1899. His own writings, which were largely journalistic, continued to appear in the most prestigious Spanish newspapers even as his body and mind progressively deteriorated. He wrote, "I wouldn't have wanted to be born, but I find it unbearable to die." He did so on 3 March 1909, blind and insane, in his modest house on calle Conde Duque de Madrid. Shortly before his death, the great bohemian had declared: Sawa's personality was an inspiration to the novelists of the

Generation of '98 The Generation of '98 () was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish–American War (1898), committed to cultural and aesthetic renewal, and associated with modernismo. The name was coin ...

, notably

Pío Baroja Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his ne ...

in '' The Tree of Knowledge'' and Valle-Inclán in ''

Bohemian Lights ''Bohemian Lights'', or ''Luces de Bohemia'' in the original Spanish, is a play written by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, published in 1924. The central character is Max Estrella, a struggling poet afflicted by blindness due to developing syphilis. ...

''. Max Estrella, the protagonist of the latter, was largely inspired by Sawa, who, though outwardly uncultivated, possessed a forceful personality and a style redolent of Hugo and

Verlaine Verlaine (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Verlaine had a total population of 3,507. The total area is 24.21 km2 which gives a population density Population density (in ag ...

, men whom he would claim as his personal friends, along with

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 Manuel Machado. (The latter would compose an epicede in his honor.) After Sawa's death, Valle-Inclán wrote to Rubén Darío: Posthumously published in 1910 with a prologue by Rubén Darío, ''Iluminaciones en la sombra'' marked a

modernist 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 ...

departure from the

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

style in which he had written his earlier novels: ''La mujer de todo el mundo'' (1885), ''Crimen legal'' (1886), ''Declaración de un vencido'' (1887), ''Noche'' (1889), ''Criadero de curas'' (1888), and ''La sima de Igusquiza'' (1888).

References

* Amelina Correa Ramón, "Alejandro Sawa, luces de bohemia", Seville, Fundación José Manuel Lara, 2008.

External links

*
Digitized works of Alejandro Sawa in the Cervantes Virtual Library
*
News story
on the awarding of a literary prize to Amelina Correa for her biography of Alejandro Sawa. *
Digitized works by Alejandro Sawa
at Biblioteca Digital Hispánica,

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

(National Library of Spain) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawa, Alejandro 1862 births 1909 deaths Writers from Seville Spanish people of Greek descent 19th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish poets 19th-century Spanish journalists 20th-century Spanish journalists Spanish blind poets Spanish male poets 19th-century Spanish male writers