Fernán Caballero
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Fernán Caballero (24 December 1796 – 7 April 1877) was the pseudonym of Spanish
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl de Faber y Ruiz de Larrea. She was daughter of German writer Johann Nikolaus Böhl von Faber and Spanish writer Frasquita Larrea. Her pen name was adopted from that of a village in the province of
Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...
.


Life

Born at
Morges Morges (; , Plurale tantum, plural, probably Ablative (Latin), ablative, else dative; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud and the seat of the Morges District, distri ...
in Switzerland, Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl und Lütkens y Ruiz de Larrea was the daughter of Johann Nikolaus Böhl von Faber, a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
merchant from
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, who lived long in Spain, married Frasquita Larrea, a native of
Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
, and he is creditably known to students of
Spanish literature Spanish literature is 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 with that of other ...
as the editor of the ''Floresta de rimas antiguas castellanas'' (1821–1825), and the ''Teatro español anterior a Lope de Vega'' (1832). She was educated principally at
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, visited Spain in 1815, and in 1816 married Antonio Planells y Bardaxi, an infantry captain of bad character. In the following year Planells was killed in action, and in 1822 the young widow married Francisco Ruiz del Arco, Marqués de Arco Hermoso, an officer in one of the Spanish household regiments. Upon the death of Arco Hermoso in 1835, the marquesa found herself in straitened circumstances, and in less than two years she married Antonio Arrom de Ayala, a man considerably her junior. Arrom was appointed consul in Australia, engaged in business enterprises and made money; but unfortunate speculations drove him to commit suicide in 1859. Ten years earlier the name of Fernán Caballero became famous in Spain as the author of ''La Gaviota''. The writer had already published in German an anonymous romance, ''Sole'' (1840), and curiously enough the original draft of ''La Gaviota'' was written in French. This novel, translated into Spanish by , appeared as the
feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...
of ''El Heraldo'' (1849), and was received with marked favor. Eugenio de Ochoa, a prominent critic of the day, ratified the popular judgment, and hopefully proclaimed the writer to be a rival of
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
. No other Spanish book of the 19th century has obtained such instant and universal recognition. Translated into most European languages, it is the best of its author's works, with the possible exception of ''La Familia de Alvareda'' (which was written, first of all, in German). Less successful attempts are ''Lady Virginia'' and ''Clemencia''; but the short stories entitled ''Cuadros de Costumbres'' are interesting in matter and form, and ''Una en otra'' and ''Elia o la Espana treinta años ha'' are excellent specimens of picturesque narration. It would be difficult to maintain that Fernán Caballero was a great literary artist, but it is certain that she was a born teller of stories and that she has a graceful style very suitable to her purpose. She came into Spain at a most happy moment, before the new order had perceptibly disturbed the old, and she brought to bear not alone a fine natural gift of observation, but a freshness of vision, undulled by long familiarity. She combined the advantages of being both a foreigner and a native. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes Caballero's later works as overly didactic, at the cost of "much of her primitive simplicity and charm". Caballero herself claimed that, though she occasionally idealized circumstances, she was conscientious in choosing for her themes subjects which had occurred in her own experience. For many years she was the most popular of Spanish writers, and the sensation caused by her death at
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, ...
on 7 April 1877 proved that her truthfulness still attracted readers who were interested in records of national customs and manners. Her ''Obras completas'' are included in the ''Colección de escritores castellanos'': a useful biography by Fernando de Gabriel Ruiz de Apodaca precedes the ''Últimas producciones de Fernán Caballero'' (Seville, 1878).


References


Sources

* * * Palma, Angélica, 'Fernán Caballero: la novelista novelable', Madrid, Espasa Calpe, 1931 *Jarilla Bravo, Salud Maria. "Los refranes recopilados por Fernán Caballero (II)". ''Paremia'', vol. 30, 2020, pp. 199–204
''Paremia'' PDF


External links

* * * *
Encyclopædia Britannica Fernan Caballero

Tauromachy in Fernán Caballero's Work

Guide to the Fernán Caballero Papers 1855-1877
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caballero, Fernan 1796 births 1877 deaths 19th-century Spanish male writers 19th-century Spanish novelists Spanish women novelists Spanish people of German descent Spanish people of Irish descent People from Morges Pseudonymous women writers 19th-century Spanish women writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers Collectors of fairy tales Immigrants to Spain