Born on June 8, 1873, 150 years ago in the town of Monóvar, Alicante, José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruiz, known under the pseudonym Azorín, was an essayist, novelist, playwright, and critic. He fought for the revival of Spanish literature and the revival of Spanish classics in the 20th century. He christened this group the 98 Generation and became its maximum representative. From a wealthy and bourgeois family, he was the eldest of nine children and studied internal baccalaureate at the school of Escolapios de Yecla for eight years. From 1888 to 1896 he studied law in Valencia, where he became interested in anarchist movements and took his first steps into journalism and criticism. A few political articles and a few translations from French correspond to this period. Later, his studies took him to Salamanca, Granada and finally to Madrid, where he became a frequent visitor to literary circles and tried to make his way in journalism of the period. It was here that he published his first novels and, after signing with other names such as Fray José, Juan de Lis, Cándido, Ahrimán, Charivari and Este, he definitively adopted the pseudonym Azorín for his eternity work in 1904. and the continuity symbolized in the ancestral traditions of the peasants. Soon the other big theme emerges: the reality of Spain, with its landscape, cities, and characters of the present. Antonio Azorín is the protagonist of the films “La voluntad” (1902) and “Antonio Azorín” (1903). In “Confessions of a Little Philosopher” the world of his childhood appears; The pain and tenderness of the Spanish land in “Los pueblos”.
By 1905, Azorín’s thought and literature was already founded on conservatism. He began to cooperate with the ABC and actively participated in political life. Between 1907-1919, he served as a cunero deputy five times, and as Undersecretary of Education in 1917 and 1919. In its early years, he continued to integrate into it over time, criticizing the Restoration’s political system, which he considered corrupt. He had a long career in the Madrid press when he joined the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia as a literary critic. A prominent representative of Castilian culture, Azorín published nearly two hundred articles in this newspaper between 1914 and 1917. According to scientists, this is not surprising, since Barcelona is the capital of the 98th Generation.
The military guidance of Primo de Rivera (from September 13, 1923 to January 28, 1930) cooled the public activities of Azorín, who refused to accept the political accusations of the dictator.
In 1924 Azorín was elected a member of the Spanish Royal Academy and tirelessly toured Spain. For twenty years he has been writing some of the most endearing books in Spanish literature: “The route of Don Quixote”, “Spain”, “Spanish readings”, “Castilla”, “Classics and moderns”, “Literary values”, “Also the classics”, “El licenciado Vidriera”, “Rivas y Larra”, “A small town: Riofrío de Ávila”, “The Spanish landscape seen by the Spaniards”, “Fantasy and playfulness”, “Two Luises and other essays”, “Don Juan”, “Castelar from Granada” ‘a’, ‘An Hour from Spain’ and ‘Doña Inés’. His very peculiar writing style is characterized by the use of a short phrase and simple syntax, the frequency of a traditional vocabulary, and a string of two or three adjectives joined by a comma.
Azorín has also always had a great fondness for theatre; however, his works did not win the appreciation of the public. From his pen would come The Old Spain (1926), Brandy, a lot of brandy (1927), Comedia del arte (1927) and the Invisible trilogy connected with the aesthetics of Expressionism. The episode and Doctor Death, 3 to 5, are considered by some critics to be his best dramatic production.
When the Civil War broke out, he fled Madrid from the Popular Front and took refuge in France with his wife. He returned to Spain after the war and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X el Sabio in 1946. In 1966, as a result of his stay in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, he wrote an article entitled Paris with his impressions of the French capital.
Azorín was a passionate and regular moviegoer in his later years. The Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos awarded him the Medal for best literary work in 1950 for his columnist activities on the subject. On July 5, 1963, Alicante’s adopted son was named. He died on March 2, 1967 in his home at 21 Zorrilla Street in Madrid and was buried in the San Isidro Cemetery. But in 1990 his and his wife’s remains were moved to Monóvar for burial in the family cemetery. Born on June 8, 1873, 150 years ago in the town of Monóvar, Alicante, José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruiz, known under the pseudonym Azorín, was an essayist, novelist, playwright, and critic. He fought for the revival of Spanish literature and the revival of Spanish classics in the 20th century. He christened this group the 98 Generation and became its maximum representative. From a wealthy and bourgeois family, he was the eldest of nine children and studied internal baccalaureate at the school of Escolapios de Yecla for eight years. From 1888 to 1896 he studied law in Valencia, where he became interested in anarchist movements and took his first steps into journalism and criticism. A few political articles and a few translations from French correspond to this period. Later, his studies took him to Salamanca, Granada and finally to Madrid, where he became a frequent visitor to literary circles and tried to make his way in journalism of the period. It was here that he published his first novels and, after signing with other names such as Fray José, Juan de Lis, Cándido, Ahrimán, Charivari and Este, he definitively adopted the pseudonym Azorín for his eternity work in 1904. and the continuity symbolized in the ancestral traditions of the peasants. Soon the other big theme emerges: the reality of Spain, with its landscape, cities, and characters of the present. Antonio Azorín is the protagonist of the films “La voluntad” (1902) and “Antonio Azorín” (1903). In “Confessions of a Little Philosopher” the world of his childhood appears; The pain and tenderness of the Spanish land in “Los pueblos”.
By 1905, Azorín’s thought and literature was already founded on conservatism. He began to cooperate with the ABC and actively participated in political life. Between 1907-1919, he served as a cunero deputy five times, and as Undersecretary of Education in 1917 and 1919. In its early years, he continued to integrate into it over time, criticizing the Restoration’s political system, which he considered corrupt. He had a long career in the Madrid press when he joined the Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia as a literary critic. A prominent representative of Castilian culture, Azorín published nearly two hundred articles in this newspaper between 1914 and 1917. According to scientists, this is not surprising, since Barcelona is the capital of the 98th Generation.
The military guidance of Primo de Rivera (from September 13, 1923 to January 28, 1930) cooled the public activities of Azorín, who refused to accept the political accusations of the dictator.
In 1924 Azorín was elected a member of the Spanish Royal Academy and tirelessly toured Spain. For twenty years he has been writing some of the most endearing books in Spanish literature: “The route of Don Quixote”, “Spain”, “Spanish readings”, “Castilla”, “Classics and moderns”, “Literary values”, “Also the classics”, “El licenciado Vidriera”, “Rivas y Larra”, “A small town: Riofrío de Ávila”, “The Spanish landscape seen by the Spaniards”, “Fantasy and playfulness”, “Two Luises and other essays”, “Don Juan”, “Castelar from Granada” ‘a’, ‘An Hour from Spain’ and ‘Doña Inés’. His very peculiar writing style is characterized by the use of a short phrase and simple syntax, the frequency of a traditional vocabulary, and a string of two or three adjectives joined by a comma.
Azorín has also always had a great fondness for theatre; however, his works did not win the appreciation of the public. From his pen would come The Old Spain (1926), Brandy, a lot of brandy (1927), Comedia del arte (1927) and the Invisible trilogy connected with the aesthetics of Expressionism. The episode and Doctor Death, 3 to 5, are considered by some critics to be his best dramatic production.
When the Civil War broke out, he fled Madrid from the Popular Front and took refuge in France with his wife. He returned to Spain after the war and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X el Sabio in 1946. In 1966, as a result of his stay in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, he wrote an article entitled Paris with his impressions of the French capital.
Azorín was a passionate and regular moviegoer in his later years. The Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos awarded him the Medal for best literary work in 1950 for his columnist activities on the subject. On July 5, 1963, Alicante’s adopted son was named. He died on March 2, 1967 in his home at 21 Zorrilla Street in Madrid and was buried in the San Isidro Cemetery. But in 1990 his and his wife’s remains were moved to Monóvar for burial in the family cemetery.