Rafael Alberti: Life, Poetry, and Legacy of a Spanish Poet
Rafael Alberti: A Life Dedicated to Art and Poetry
Rafael Alberti was born on December 16, 1902, in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz), the son of Augustine and Mary Alberti Merello. He was the fifth of six children and grandson of winemakers from Italy, vendors to European courts. From childhood, he showed a keen interest in the arts, initially focusing on painting.
Early Life and Artistic Beginnings
In 1917, his family moved to Madrid, where he copied paintings in the Prado, considering it a lifelong school. After an apprenticeship with paint, he participated in the National Hall of Autumn and held his first exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Ateneo. The nostalgia and grief over his father’s death led him to poetry, leaving painting in the background. He composed his first poem in his early twenties.
Literary Awakening and the Generation of ’27
Incipient tuberculosis forced him to spend several months in a sanatorium in the Sierra de Guadarrama, where he had the opportunity to read and enhance his literary vocation. He was introduced at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he connected with the Generation of ’27 (Dámaso Alonso, Lorca, Gerardo Diego, Aleixandre, among others), an intellectual movement that emerged on the occasion of the tribute held in Seville in 1927 to Luis de Góngora on the centenary of his death.
Literary Success and Political Engagement
In 1924, he received the National Book Award for his first published book, Sailor. In 1926, he published The Lover, a poetic account of a trip. The following year, he released a book of poems, The Dawn of a Bricklayer. In 1929, Cal y Canto was published, showing influences of ultraism. Also that same year, On the Angels, a surreal allegory, appeared. Sermons and Purple was published in 1930, along with With Shoes On I Have to Die.
A member of the Spanish Communist Party, he published in 1937 a set of books called The Poet on the Street, which appeared together in 1938. In the same period, his plays included Fermín Galán (1931). He later wrote other plays such as The Eyesore (1944 and 1956) and Night of War in the Prado.
Exile and Return
Together with his partner, writer Maria Teresa Leon, he went into exile after the defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War. He lived in Argentina until 1962, then in Rome, before returning to Spain in 1977, being elected deputy for the province of Cadiz. He narrates his life during the years of exile in The Lost Grove (1959 and 1987).
Later Works and Recognition
His poetry includes politically charged works such as Not Among the Carnation and the Sword (1941) and A Painting (1948). Return of the Living in Distant (1952) and Ballads and Songs of Paraná, a book of poems published the following year, includes songs very close to that of Sailor. The first book he published on his return to Europe was Rome, in Danger of Walking (1968). Among the works after his return to Spain, the erotic book, Songs for Altair, published in 1989, stands out.
He received many awards, including the Lenin Prize for Peace in 1966 and the Cervantes Prize in 1983. In 1989, the Diputación de Cádiz created the foundation that bears his name in his hometown, which moved much of his personal archive and library. He married his second wife, María Asunción Mateo, who accompanied and represented him during his last years.
Death and Legacy
He died at approximately 0:30 am on October 28, 1999, in his hometown of Puerto de Santa Maria.