Carmen Conde Abellan

Carmen Conde Abellán was born on August 15, 1907 in Cartagena, Spain. She was the daughter of a wine merchant and a seamstress. She had a difficult childhood and married Antonio Oliver Belmás, a poet and journalist, in 1931. She published her first work, A los acordes de la pavana (To the Chords of the Pavane), in 1925. She wrote poems and novels in Spanish and Galician, influenced by Juan Ramón Jiménez, Gabriel Miró and Ernestina de Champourcín. She also collaborated with newspapers and magazines under the pseudonym of Florentina del Mar. She founded the first Popular University of Cartagena in 1931 with her husband, where they organized cultural events and social work. She also worked as a teacher in various schools. She published books such as Brocal (1929), Júbilos (1934), Ansia de la gracia (1945) and Mujer sin Edén (1957), which explored themes such as love, nature, spirituality and feminism. She also wrote biographies of historical figures such as Teresa of Ávila and Juana de Asbaje. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died on January 8, 1996 in Madrid at the age of 88 . She was the first woman to become an academic numerary of the Real Academia Española in 1978, where she delivered her induction speech on February 28, 1979 . She is regarded as one of the most important and influential poets and writers of Spanish literature in the 20th century. She is also remembered as a pioneer of feminism and social work in Spain .