Maria Zambrano

María Zambrano was a Spanish philosopher and essayist who belonged to the Generation of '36, a group of writers and intellectuals who emerged during the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath. She was influenced by her mentor José Ortega y Gasset, the founder of the Revista de Occidente, a cultural magazine that promoted European ideas and values. Zambrano was also inspired by poets such as Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Federico García Lorca, as well as by mystics such as Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross. Zambrano's philosophy was based on what she called "poetical reason", a way of thinking that integrates reason and emotion, logic and intuition, history and myth. She believed that poetry was the highest form of human expression and that it could reveal the hidden meaning of reality. She also developed a concept of "civic reason", which aimed at creating a dialogue between different perspectives and fostering a sense of community and solidarity. Zambrano was critical of the rationalism and individualism that dominated modern Western culture, and she advocated for a more humanistic and spiritual approach to life. Zambrano's works include El hombre y lo divino (Man and the Divine, 1955), La confesión: género literario y método (The Confession: Literary Genre and Method, 1943), Hacia un saber sobre el alma (Towards a Knowledge of the Soul, 1950), Persona y democracia (Person and Democracy, 1958), Claros del bosque (Clearings in the Forest, 1977), and De la aurora (Of the Dawn, 1986). She also wrote numerous essays on topics such as art, religion, politics, education, feminism, and exile. Zambrano was an active supporter of the Spanish Second Republic and opposed the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. She went into exile in 1939 and lived in various countries such as France, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Italy, France again, and Switzerland. She returned to Spain in 1984 after Franco's death. She received several honors for her work, such as the Prince of Asturias Award (1981) and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (1988), the highest literary award in the Spanish-speaking world. She died on 6 February 1991 in Madrid at the age of 86.