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Francisco Umbral

Francisco Umbral, also Paco Umbral, (May 11, 1935 - August 28, 2007) was a Spanish journalist, novelist, biographer and essayist. Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ... // The following is a list of notable deaths in 2007. ... This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... is the 131st day of the year (132nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

Style

Although he was born in Madrid, a city that has inspired most of his work, his early years were spent in Valladolid. His mother travelled to Madrid for his birth, because he was an illegitimate child. His mother's indifference and distance from him marked him with an enduring sadness, as did the infant death of his only son, from which event was born his saddest and most personal book, Mortal y rosa, (A Mortal Spring). This created in the author a characteristic haughty manner, devoid of hopefulness, absolutely submerged in literature, which has provoked many polemics and emnities. Motto: (Spanish for From Madrid to Heaven) Location Coordinates: , Country Spain Autonomous Community Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid Province Madrid Administrative Divisions 21 Neighborhoods 127 Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jimémez (PP) Area  - Land 607 km² (234. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

In Valladolid he began his journalistic career at El Norte de Castilla, under the tutorship of Miguel Delibes. In 1961 he went to Madrid as a correspondent and quickly became a prestigious reporter and columnist in magazines such as La Estafeta Literaria, Mundo Hispánico and Interviú, and in influential newspapers such as Ya and ABC, although he is best known for his writings for the daily newspapers El País (founded in 1976 just after the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and the restoration of constitutionalism and democracy) and El Mundo (founded 1990). At El País he was one of the reporters who best was able to describe the countercultural movement known as La Movida, but his literary quality undoubtedly came from his creative fecundity, his linguistic sensibility and the extreme originality of his style, very careful and complex, creative in its syntax, very metaphorically developed and flexible, abundant in neologisms and intertextual allusions; in sum, of a demanding lyric and aesthetic quality. He practices a species of anti-bourgeois criticism of customs and manners, without renouncing a romantic ego, and, in the words of Novalis, has the intent of giving the dignity of the unknown to the everyday, impregnating it with a desolate tenderness. As a political reporter, Umbral is a highly trenchant writer. Having become a successful journalist and writer, he worked with Spain's most varied and influential magazines and newspapers. Among the many published volumes of his articles, the following stand out: Miguel Delibes (born 1920) is a Spanish novelist and member of the Real Academia Española. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... El País (Spanish for The Country) is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Spain. ... Dictator is originally the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. ... General Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 - November 20, [1] 1975), commonly abbreviated to Francisco Franco (pron. ... The Spanish transition to democracy or new Bourbon restoration was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. ... El Mundo can refer to: El Mundo (Spain), Spanish newspaper El Mundo (Puerto Rico), Puerto Rican newspaper El Mundo (Argentine), Argentine newspaper El Mundo (game), four player tables game described in the Alfonso X manuscript This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... La Movida Madrileña (The Madrilene moving) is a sociocultural movement that took place in Madrid during the 80s triggered by the explosion of liberties after the death of Fascist dictator Francisco Franco and the economical rise of Spain. ... A neologism (Greek νεολογισμός [neologismos], from νέος [neos] new + λόγος [logos] word, speech, discourse + suffix -ισμός [-ismos] -ism) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... Bourgeois at the end of the thirteenth century. ... For the German rock band, see Novalis (band). ...

• Diario de un snob ("Diary of a snob", 1973)
• Spleen de Madrid ("Madrid Spleen", 1973, the title being a reference to Charles Baudelaire's Paris Spleen)
• España cañí (1975)
• Iba yo a comprar el pan ("I went out to buy bread", 1976)
• Los políticos ("Politicians", 1976)
• Crónicas postfranquistas ("Post-Francoist Chronicles", 1976)
• Las Jais ("Birds", "Chicks" [slang, i.e. "Girls"] 1977)
• Spleen de Madrid–2 ("Madrid Spleen–2", 1982)
• España como invento ("Spain as an invention", 1984)
• La belleza convulsa ("Convulsive Beauty", 1985)
• Memorias de un hijo del siglo ("Memories of a child of the century", 1986)
• Mis placeres y mis días ("My pleasures and my days", 1994).

Among non-readers, he is remembered by an appearance in Mercedes Milá's TV program Queremos saber. After some chatter, Umbral breaks conversation claiming that he has come to talk about his latest book, not to entertain her and certainly not to watch some silly videos everyone has already seen.^{[citation needed]} This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Work

Narratives

Highlights of his very extensive narrative production, in which autobiographical aspects stand out, include:

• Tamouré (1965)
• Balada de gamberros ("Louts' Ballad", 1965)
• Travesía de Madrid ("Crossing Madrid", 1966)
• Las vírgenes ("The Virgins", 1969)
• Si hubiéramos sabido que el amor era eso ("If we had known that love was this", 1969)
• El Giocondo (1970) about the homosexual milieu of Madrid (the title is a play on the Italian "la Gioconda", the name of the painting known in English as the Mona Lisa)
• Las europeas ("European Girls", 1970)
• Memorias de un niño de derechas ("Memoirs of a child of the right", 1972)
• Los males sagrados ("Holy Evils", 1973)
• Mortal y rosa ("A Mortal Spring", 1975)
• Las ninfas ("The Nymphs", 1975, received the Premio Nadal)
• Los amores diurnos ("Daytime Love", 1979)
• Los helechos arborescentes ("Arborescent Ferns", 1980)
• La bestia rosa ("The Pink Beast", 1981)
• Los ángeles custodios ("Guardian Angels", 1981)
• Las ánimas del purgatorio, ("The Souls of Purgatory", 1982)
• Trilogía de Madrid ("Madrid Trilogy", 1984)
• Pío XII, escolta mora y un general sin un ojo ("Pius XII, the Moorish Escort and a General Missing an Eye", 1985)
• Nada en el domingo ("Nothing on Sunday", 1988)
• El día en que violé a Alma Mahler ("The Day I Raped Alma Mahler", 1988)
• El fulgor de África ("The Radiance of Africa", 1989)
• Y Tierno Galván ascendió a los cielos ("And Tierno Galván Ascended to the Heavens", 1990)
• Leyenda del César Visionario ("The Legend of the Visionary Caesar", 1992, winner of the Critics' Prize), Madrid, 1940 (1993)
• Las señoritas de Aviñón ("The Young Ladies of Avignon", 1995; the title is a reference to a painting by Pablo Picasso generally known in the English-speaking world by its French-language name, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon)
• Madrid 1950 (1995), Capital del dolor ("The Capital of Sorrow", 1996)
• La forja de un ladrón ("A Thief's Forge", 1997)
• Historias de amor y Viagra ("Stories of Love and Viagra", 1998)

In 1985, Umbral began a series of novels about the most important events in the history of twentieth-century Spain, after the fashion of the Episodios nacionales of Benito Pérez Galdós for the nineteenth century. Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci. ... “Right wing” redirects here. ... Spanish literary prize awarded 6 January of every year since 1944 by the editorial house Ediciones Destino. ... Arborescent is a term coined by the French thinkers Deleuze and Guattari to characterize thinking marked by insistence on totalizing principles. ... Pope Pius XII (Latin: ), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958), reigned as the 260th pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City, from March 2, 1939 until his death. ... Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler-Werfel (née Schindler) (August 31, 1879 – December 11, 1964) was noted in her native Vienna for her beauty and intelligence. ... “Picasso” redirects here. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... // ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Republican homage, bust by Erminio Blotta, at Independencia Park, Rosario, Argentina Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish novelist. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Essays

He also wrote a set of very personal essays, under such titles as:

• La escritura perpetua (De Rubén Darío a Cela) ("Perpetual Writing (From Rubén Darío to Cela)", 1989)*
• Las palabras de la tribu ("The Words of the Tribe", 1994)
• Diccionario de literatura ("Dictionary of Literature", 1995)
• Madrid, tribu urbana ("Madrid, Urban Tribe", 2000)
• Los alucinados ("Hallucinations", 2001)
• Cela: un cadáver exquisito ("Cela, an Exquisite Corpse", 2002)
• ¿Y cómo eran las ligas de Madame Bovary? ("And What Were Madame Bovary's Garters Like?", 2003).

His preoccupation with slang is shown by: A framed picture of Rubén Darío hanging in the National Theater. ... Spanish writer Camilo José Cela Don Camilo José Cela Trulock, Marquis of Iria Flavia (es: Don Camilo José Cela Trulock, marqués de Iria Flavia) (May 11, 1916 – January 17, 2002) was an influential Spanish writer and member of the Generation of 50. ... For the film, see Madame Bovary (1949 film) Madame Bovary is a novel by Gustave Flaubert that was attacked for obscenity by public prosecutors when it was first serialised in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, resulting in a trial in January 1857 that...

• Diccionario para pobres ("Dictionary for the Poor", 1977)
• Diccionario cheli ("Cheli Dictionary", 1983, Cheli being to Madrid what Cockney is to London)
• Las palabras de la tribu ("The Words of the Tribe", 1994).

A cheli is a native of the traditional working class and poor districts of Madrid, Spain, such as Lavapies and Atocha in the southern part of the old city. ... St Mary-le-Bow The term cockney refers to working-class inhabitants of London, particularly east London, and the slang used by these people. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Biographies and autobiographies

He also published biographical and literary essays presenting original views about classical authors of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as:

• Larra, anatomía de un dandy ("Larra, anatomy of a dandy", 1965)
• Lorca, poeta maldito (1968, about Federico García Lorca; the title is ambiguous, and could be interpreted as calling Lorca a "wicked", or "indecent" poet or one who is "cursed" either in the sense of being "spoken against" or "unlucky")
• Ramón y las vanguardias ("Ramón and the vanguards", 1978)
• Valle-Inclán: los botines blancos de piqué ("Valle-Inclán: "White Piqué Boots", 1997)

Other biographies are more revealing: Mariano José de Larra (24 March 1809 - 13 February 1837) was a Spanish writer noted for satire and perhaps the best prose writer of 19th-century Spain. ... Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca (June 5, 1898 – August 19, 1936) was a Spanish poet and dramatist, also remembered as a painter, pianist, and composer. ... Ramón María del Valle-Inclán. ...

• Valle-Inclán (1968)
• Lord Byron (1969)
• Miguel Delibes (1970)
• Lola Flores, sociología de la petenera ("Lola Flores, sociology of the petenera", 1971).

Although autobiography is also present throughout his journalistic work, several of his works are explicitly autobiographical: La Faraona Lola Flores, born January 21, 1923 in Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz, Spain - died May 16, 1995, was a singer, dancer, and actress. ... The Petenera is a flamenco palo in a 12-beat metre, with strong beats distributed as follows: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. It is therefore identical with the 16th century Spanish dances zarabanda and the jácara. ...

• La noche que llegué al café Gijón ("The night I arrived at the Café Gijón" 1977)
• Memorias eróticas (Los cuerpos gloriosos) ("Erotic memories: the glorious bodies", 1992)
• El hijo de Greta Garbo ("Son of Greta Garbo", 1977).

Greta Garbo (September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990) was a Swedish-born actress during Hollywoods silent film period and part of its Golden Age. ...

Honours and awards

• Gabriel Miró National Prize for Stories (1964)
• Carlos Arniches de la SGAE (1975)
• Premio Nadal (1975)
• César González Ruano Prize for Newspaper Journalism (1980)
• Francisco Cerecedo Prize (1995)
• Prince of Asturias Award for Letters (1996)
• National Prize for Letters (1997)
• Premio Cervantes (2000)

Gabriel Miró (Alicante, 1879 - Madrid, 1930). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE) is a Spanish organization for the rights of authors and publishers. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Spanish literary prize awarded 6 January of every year since 1944 by the editorial house Ediciones Destino. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... The Prince of Asturias Awards (Spanish: Premios Príncipe de Asturias, Asturian: Premios Príncipe dAsturies) is a series of annual prizes given in Spain by the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias to individuals, entities, organizations or others from around the world who make notable achievements in the... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Premio Miguel de Cervantes (the Miguel de Cervantes Prize) is awarded annually to honor the whole career of an outstanding writer in Spanish language. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

External links

• "Some words about Mortal y rosa" (in Spanish)

References

• This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 2 November 2004. It was translated by the Spanish Translation of the Week collaboration.