Josep Feliu i Codina (also known by his Spanish name José Feliú y Codina; 11 June 1845 – 2 May 1897) was a Catalan journalist, novelist and playwright whose work is linked to the Realist movement and to the Catalan

Renaixença The ''Renaixença'' (; also written ''Renaixensa'' before spelling standardisation), or Catalan Renaissance, was a romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture through the mid 19th century, akin to the Galician '' Rexurdimento ...

Biography

Codina was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 May 1845. An affiliate of the ''Partit Liberal Dinàstic'' (Liberal Monarchist Party), he took a law degree in 1867 and worked in several administrative posts for the party. He also began his literary career at that time, initially writing in Catalan. In 1867, he founded the weekly periodical ''La Pubilla''. A year earlier, he had produced his first comedy ''Un mosquit d'arbre'' (A Mosquito Tree), and in 1871 his first serious play, ''Els fadrins externs'' (The Strange Companions). He also collaborated (under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"Josep Serra") on several plays by Frederic Soler. During his time in Barcelona he went on to write several more plays and novels, and founded two more periodicals, ''Lo Nunci'' and ''La Jornada''. In 1886, Feliu i Codina moved to Madrid where he became fluent in Spanish. He was the editor ''La Iberia'' and also wrote for ''El Rhin'', ''La América'', ''La Revolución'', and ''La Democracia''. Once in Madrid, much of his dramatic output was written in Spanish. Two of his most well-known plays from that time are ''La Dolores'' (1892) which formed the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for

Tomás Bretón Tomás Bretón y Hernández (29 December 1850 – 2 December 1923) was a Spanish Conducting, conductor and composer. Biography Tomás Bretón was born in Salamanca. He completed his musical studies at the School of Fine Arts in his hometown, w ...

's 1895

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

of the same name and ''María del Carmen'' (1896) which formed the libretto for

Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Cat ...

's 1898 opera, ''

María del Carmen ''María del Carmen'' is an opera in three acts composed by Enrique Granados to a Spanish libretto by José Feliú i Codina based on his 1896 play of the same name. It was Granados's first operatic success and, although it is largely forgotten t ...

''. Both plays had several film adaptations. ''María del Carmen'' was also the basis of a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, ''

Spanish Love ''Spanish Love'' is a three-act play by Avery Hopwood and Mary Roberts Rinehart, who adapted an earlier Spanish play, ''María del Carmen'' by Josep Feliu i Codina. Producers Lincoln Wagenhals and Collin Kemper staged it at the Maxine Elliott Th ...

'', which opened on 17 August 1920 at the

Maxine Elliott Theatre Maxine Elliott's Theatre was originally a Broadway theatre at 109 West 39th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1908, it was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of the Chicago-based firm Marshall and Fox, ...

in New York City and ran for 308 performances. In addition to his own plays and novels, he translated into Spanish a collection of tales by the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

writer,

Matteo Bandello Matteo Bandello ( 1480–1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, Dominican friar and bishop, best known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day. Biography Matteo Bandello was b ...

, and several short stories by the French novelist and playwright,

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

. Feliu i Codina's brother, Antoni Feliu i Codina (1846–1917), was a prominent politician and man of letters. Both brothers wrote for the Catalan literary magazine, ''Un troç de paper''. Josep Feliu i Codina died in Madrid on 2 May 1897.

References

*Clark, Walter Aaron
''Enrique Granados: Poet of the Piano''
Oxford University Press US, 2006, p. 39. *Enciclopèdia Catalana, SAU
"Josep Feliu i Codina"
(in Catalan). Accessed 20 January 2009. *Puerto, Pedro Montón

on Calatayud.org (in Spanish). Accessed 20 January 2009.

External links

*Public domain essays written by Josep Feliu i Codina (under the pseudonym "Josep Serra") for the literary magazine, ''Un troç de paper''. All texts are in the original Catalan. ** (Satirical commentary on the opera ''

L'Africaine ''L'Africaine'' (''The African Woman'') is an 1837 five-act French ''grand opéra'' by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe. By 1852, the plot had been revised to depict fictional events in the life of Portuguese explorer Vasco da ...

'') ** (Story about the life of Mr. Rafael, a very home-loving man) ** (Scenes of a neighbourhood festival celebrating a saint) *Public domain plays written by Josep Feliu i Codina. All texts are in the original Catalan. **
A ca'la sonambula
' **

' {{DEFAULTSORT:Feliu i Codina, Josep 1845 births 1897 deaths Dramatists and playwrights from Catalonia Spanish opera librettists Writers from Barcelona Journalists from Barcelona Translators from Catalonia French–Spanish translators Italian–Spanish translators 19th-century Spanish journalists Spanish male journalists 19th-century Spanish translators 19th-century Spanish dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Spanish male writers