Benito Perez Galdpos

Benito Pérez Galdós was one of the most influential Spanish writers of the 19th century. He was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a city in the Canary Islands, on May 10, 1843. He was the tenth and last child of Sebastián Pérez, a lieutenant colonel in the army, and Dolores Galdós, a woman of noble descent. He grew up in a cultured and liberal family that encouraged his literary interests. He studied at a local school and later at a Jesuit college, where he showed a talent for languages and writing. He also developed a passion for history and politics, influenced by his father's stories about the War of Independence against Napoleon. In 1862, he moved to Madrid to study law at the University of Madrid, but he soon abandoned his studies to pursue a career as a writer and journalist. He frequented literary circles and theaters, where he met some of the most prominent Spanish writers of his time, such as Emilia Pardo Bazán, Leopoldo Alas "Clarín", José Zorrilla, and Juan Valera. He also traveled extensively throughout Spain and Europe, observing the social and political realities of his era. He was especially interested in the changes brought by the industrial revolution, the urbanization, the rise of the bourgeoisie, and the decline of the aristocracy. He began his literary career by writing articles and reviews for various newspapers and magazines, such as La Nación, El Debate, La Revista de España, and La Ilustración Española y Americana. He also wrote historical novels based on contemporary sources, such as La Fontana de Oro (1870), El audaz (1871), and Doña Perfecta (1876). These novels reflected his liberal and progressive views, as well as his criticism of the corruption and intolerance of the Spanish society under the Bourbon monarchy. He also wrote plays that explored social and psychological themes, such as Realidad (1892), Electra (1901), and Casandra (1905). However, he is best known for his realistic novels that depicted the life and customs of 19th-century Spain with great detail and accuracy. He wrote two major series of novels: the Episodios Nacionales (National Episodes), which consisted of 46 historical novels that covered the history of Spain from 1805 to 1880; and the Novelas Españolas Contemporáneas (Contemporary Spanish Novels), which comprised 24 novels that portrayed the diverse aspects of Spanish society in his time. Among his most famous novels are Fortunata y Jacinta (1886-1887), Miau (1888), Tristana (1892), Nazarín (1895), Misericordia (1897), and El abuelo (1897). He was also involved in politics throughout his life. He was a supporter of the liberal movements that sought to establish a democratic regime in Spain after the overthrow of Queen Isabella II in 1868. He joined the Progressive Party led by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta and was elected as a deputy for Puerto Rico in 1886. Later, he became a republican and socialist sympathizer and joined the Republican-Socialist Conjunction. He was elected as a deputy for Madrid in 1907 and 1910, and for Las Palmas in 1914. He advocated for social reforms, such as universal suffrage, secular education, workers' rights, and women's emancipation. He died in Madrid on January 4, 1920, at the age of 76, after suffering from uremia. He was buried in the Cementerio de la Almudena, where a monument was erected in his honor. He was widely regarded as the greatest Spanish novelist since Miguel de Cervantes and one of the masters of European realism. His novels influenced generations of Spanish and Latin American writers, such as Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, Pío Baroja, Miguel de Unamuno, Federico García Lorca, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Carlos Fuentes. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times, but he never received it due to his anticlericalism and his opposition to the conservative sectors of Spanish society.