Josefina de la Torre

Josefina de la Torre was a Spanish poet, novelist, and opera singer, as well as a stage, film, radio, and television actress. She was closely associated with the Generation of '27, an influential group of poets that arose in Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. She was also one of the few women who belonged to the group known as Las Sinsombrero, a group of female artists and intellectuals who defied the social norms of their time by removing their hats in public. De la Torre began to write poetry from the young age of eight, and published her first book, Versos y estampas, in 1927. Her poems reflected her love for her native island of Gran Canaria, as well as her interest in modernist and surrealist aesthetics. She also wrote two novels, En el umbral and Memorias de una estrella, both published in 1954. Her poetry was not translated into English until 2000, when a bilingual edition of Poemas de la Isla was published with translations by Carlos Reyes. De la Torre was also a talented singer and actress. She studied music with her uncle, Néstor de la Torre Comminges, a baritone with extensive experience in the Canaries. She also received vocal training in Madrid and Paris, and became a successful soprano. She performed in operas, zarzuelas, and musical comedies, both in Spain and abroad. She also worked as a voice actress for Paramount, dubbing over Marlene Dietrich for films in Joinville. In 1935, she returned to Madrid, where she began to focus on her theatrical and cinematic career. She acted in several films directed by her brother, Claudio de la Torre, such as El enigma (1939) and La casa de los millones (1941). She also performed on stage at the Teatro Nacional, and formed her own theatre company with her brother and her second husband, actor Ramón Corroto. She starred in numerous plays by Spanish and foreign authors, such as Miguel Mihura's El caso de la mujer asesinadita and Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. De la Torre continued to work as a stage actress in Madrid until the 1960s. She also appeared on radio and television shows, such as Novela (1963), Historias para no dormir (1966), and Palabras cruzadas (1974). She died on July 12, 2002, at the age of 94. She is remembered as one of the last survivors of the Generation of '27, and as a versatile and pioneering artist who explored different forms of expression.