12 Interesting Facts About Andalusia's famous Author: Federico García Lorca

If you ever plan a trip in southern Spain to visit Andalusia and would like to immerse yourself in its culture, learn more about its history and famous literature, you would definitely want to find out about renowned author Federico García Lorca (5th June 1898, Granada - 19th August 1936)-- who's one of the country's most famous poets and playwrights from the 20th century. Would you like to learn some facts about this writer? Keep reading!

1) Born in Fuente Vaquero, Granada, to a wealthy family of farmers.

On June 5, 1898, Federico García Lorca was born in Fuente Vaqueros, in the Granada plain, to a wealthy family of farmers whose fortune flourished thanks to the escalating growth of the sugar industry.

2) His favourite game as a child was celebrating mass

His interests were puppets and music. However, his favourite game was pretending to celebrate mass, where he would seat his brother Francisco and other children, as he "officiated" mass. He would also make his friends play along on one condition: that the audience burst into tears during the sermon.

3) Internationally renowned as a member of the group of poets called Generation of 27.

"The Generation of 27" is the name of a group of Spanish poets who represented the most notable of 20th-century literature. The authors of this generation sought a balance between emotions and intellectuality to create texts loaded with humanity and beauty but also with strong content and messages.
Some of the principal characteristics of this group are:

Their political and social commitment
Introducing progressive literature where they started writing about taboo and vanguard topics
Creative freedom
Their influence of the Spanish Golden Age
Lingüistic mix of classical and modern language

4) Federico García Lorca possessed extraordinary talents as a pianist and thought about becoming a musician.

Even though he initially had a strong interest in studying music and becoming a musician and composer, he finally decided to become a writer, and studied Law, Literature and Composition at the University of Granada. Here is when he would also start experimenting with musicality in literature, by composing sonnets, ballads, and poems.

5) He was a great devotee of the works of Shakespeare, Goethe, the Spanish poet Antonio Machado, and the Nicaraguan writer Rubén Darío.

Federico García Lorca's works which were full of emotion, humanism, and intellectuality were greatly influenced by these authors.

6) His first book was Impresiones y Paisajes (Impressions and Landscapes).

In his first book in prose "Impressions and Landscapes", written in 1918, he chronicles his trips around Spain as a university student describing his travels with sentimentality and devotion.

7) He travelled to the United States in 1929 with a friend, where he would learn English and studied at Columbia University- School of General Studies.

During a spell living in New York, he wrote a list of poems called "Poeta en Nueva York" or a Poet in New York. Here, he breaks his previous literary schemes and approaches poetry with a modern vision, describing passages of a city that entered the rapid industrialization amid complex social circumstances.

8) He toured around Spain promoting culture and literature by performing theatre plays for free in the country's rural areas.

He became such a devotee of his work in theatre, poetry and literature that his mission became to introduce his artistic endeavours for free around the most impoverished areas of Spain.

9) Some of his most famous compositions are:

The Butterfly's Evil Spell (1919-20), The Gipsy Ballads (1921-27), Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (1935), Tragedies: Blood Wedding (1935) and the House of Bernarda Alba (1936).

10) Romancero Gitano or The Gipsy Ballads was his most translated and famous work

For Lorca, the gipsies were a great source of inspiration. As they reflected an alienated minority group in Spain, Lorca felt a strong affinity to them. In 1934, he declared "I will always support those who have nothing and are alienated by society". The fact of having to admit his homosexuality to his parents allowed him to strongly empathise with this group, as he knew well what it felt like being an outcast in those times.

The Gipsy Ballads (written 1921-27) is a lyrical evocation of the sensual world of the Andalusian Gypsy. This is an excerpt from one of his famous poems:

“Sleepwalking Ballad” by Federico García Lorca
Translated by Will Kirkland and Christopher Maurer
From The Gypsy Ballads (1924-1927), Collected Poems

Green I want you green.
Green wind, green boughs.
Ship on the sea
and horse on the mountain.
With shadow at her waist
she dreams at her railing,
green flesh, green hair,
and eyes of cold silver.
Green I want you green.
Under the gipsy moon
things are looking at her,
and she cannot return their gaze.

11) Murdered during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 by a nationalist militia, his body was sadly never found.

At the start of the Spanish Civil War, Federico García Lorca was brutally murdered by a nationalist militia due to his progressive political views.

12) His houses in Huerta de San Vicente, Valderrubio and Fuente Vaqueros turned into museums which commemorate his work and life.

Planning a trip around Andalusia? If you get the chance, don't forget to visit these museums where you can find out more about this most beloved Spanish author.