Salvador de Madariaga

Salvador de Madariaga was a prominent Spanish intellectual, writer, diplomat, and historian who lived and worked in several European countries. He was born in A Coruña, Galicia, in 1886, to a military father and a teacher mother. He studied engineering in Paris and Oxford, where he became interested in literature and politics. He worked as a journalist for The Times in London and as a professor at Oxford University. He also served as a Spanish diplomat in several posts, including the League of Nations, where he was the chief of the Disarmament Section. He was a supporter of the Second Spanish Republic and opposed the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. He went into exile after the Spanish Civil War and lived in France, England, and Switzerland. He became one of the founders and leaders of the Liberal International, a federation of liberal political parties. He also advocated for European integration and democracy in Spain. He wrote numerous books and essays on Spanish culture and history, as well as on international affairs and philosophy. Some of his most famous works include Spain: A Modern History (1958), The Heart of Jade (1961), Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of Mexico (1969), and Morning Without Noon: Memoirs (1974). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize several times. He received many honors and awards, such as the Charlemagne Prize (1973) and the honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Spain (1976). He died in Locarno, Switzerland, in 1978, at the age of 92.