Darío Villalba Flórez (22 February 1939 – 16 June 2018) was a Spanish painter, photographer, and competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He represented Spain at the 1956 Winter Olympics where he placed 14th.

Life and career

Darío Villalba Flórez was born on 22 February 1939 in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

. He began skating at age 11 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where his father was serving as the Spanish consul. He returned to Spain when he was 14 years old. As the only rink in Spain was small and of poor quality, his parents sent him to

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

, France, where he was taught by a German coach, Thea Frenssen. At the age of 16, he represented Spain at the 1956 Winter Olympics in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, Italy. He placed 14th of 16 competitors in the men's singles event. He then finished 15th at the 1956 World Championships in

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

, Germany. In 1983 he received Spain's National Award for Plastic Arts. In 2002, Villalba became a member of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

Competitive highlights

Bibliography

* Luis Gonzales-Robles, ''Darío Villalba'', Galleria del Naviglio, Milan, 1970 *

Giancarlo Politi Giancarlo Politi (born 1937 in Trevi, Italy) is an art critic and publisher, mainly known for being the founder of ''Flash Art'' magazine. Magazine Politi was born in Trevi, in Umbria. He had a brief spell as an artist and poet before turning t ...

, ''Darío Villalba'', Galeria Vandres, Madrid, 1974

References

1939 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from San Sebastián Basque artists Spanish painters Spanish contemporary artists Spanish male single skaters Olympic figure skaters for Spain Figure skaters at the 1956 Winter Olympics 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-figure-skating-bio-stub