Carmen de Burgos

Carmen de Burgos was born on December 10, 1867 in Almería, Spain. She was the daughter of a wine merchant and a pianist. She had a difficult childhood and married at the age of 16 to Arturo Álvarez y Bustos, a painter and journalist who abused her and was unfaithful to her. She had four children with him, but only one survived. She escaped from her husband in 1901 and moved to Madrid with her daughter. She obtained a teaching certificate and worked as a teacher and a school inspector. She also started writing for newspapers and magazines under the pseudonym of Colombine. She became the first female professional journalist in Spain as editor of Madrid's Diario Universal in 1906 . She published books and articles on topics such as divorce, abortion, prostitution, education, labor rights, pacifism and prison reform. She also wrote novels, short stories, essays, biographies and travel books. She was one of the most prolific and influential writers of her time. She also translated works by authors such as Oscar Wilde, George Sand and Victor Hugo. She was a pioneer of feminism and social work in Spain and advocated for the modernization of the country. She also supported the Second Spanish Republic and joined the Alliance of Antifascist Intellectuals in 1936. She worked as a war correspondent and a cultural promoter during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and helped the wounded of both sides with the Red Cross. She went into exile in France in 1939 after Franco's victory but returned to Spain shortly before her death. She died of cerebral hemorrhage on October 9, 1932 in Madrid at the age of 64 . She is regarded as one of the most important and influential writers and activists of Spanish history and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. She is also remembered as a pioneer of realism and symbolism in Spanish literature .