Gerardo Diego
Gerardo Diego Cendoya, born on October 3, 1896, in Santander, Spain, was a notable Spanish poet and a prominent figure in the literary movement known as the Generation of 1927. He showed an early affinity for poetry, influenced by renowned writers such as Rubén Darío and José de Espronceda. Diego's literary career began in earnest after his graduation from the Universities of Salamanca and Madrid, though his first collection, titled *Evasion*, was published only in 1958, decades after his initial foray into poetry. Throughout the 1920s, he contributed to various literary magazines and established his own periodicals, including *Carmen* and *Lola*.
His work evolved significantly over his lifetime, moving from avant-garde styles to more introspective forms, such as his "intimate diary" composed of sonnets. Diego's poetry reflects a blend of French Symbolism, ultraísmo, and creacionismo, showcasing his skill in meter and revitalizing the sonnet as a contemporary form of expression. Although he received recognition during his lifetime, including the Spanish National Prize for Literature in 1925 and the Cervantes Prize in 1979, his contributions have often been viewed as overshadowed by his contemporaries. His extensive body of work continues to be celebrated and acknowledged, affirming his significant place in Spanish literature. Diego passed away on July 8, 1987, leaving behind a rich legacy that continues to resonate with readers today.
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Gerardo Diego
Poet
- Born: October 3, 1896
- Birthplace: Santander, Spain
- Died: July 8, 1987
- Place of death: Madrid, Spain
Biography
Gerardo Diego was born Gerardo Diego Cendoya on October 3, 1896, in Santander, Spain, to dry goods store owner Manuel Diego Barquin and Angela Cendoya Uria. Their youngest child was early on drawn to poetry, reading Luis Coloma, Rub‚n Dar¡o, José de Espronceda, and other poets. Diego’s own writing began immediately after he graduated from the Universities of Salmanca and Madrid, stating with an avant-garde first collection, Evasion, although that book would not be published until 1958, forty years later. At this time, Diego was developing a repertoire of poetry that was featured in such periodicals and literary magazines as Cervantes, Spector, and Ultra.
By 1925, Diego was pursuing the possibilities of founding his own literary magazine, which he would realize two years later with the short-lived Carmen, and the later, more successful Lola. By the 1930’s, Diego was back at work on an “intimate diary written in forty-two sonnets,” a departure from the earlier astonishing avant- garde “Generation of 1927” creations for which he was most often considered. From this period until his death on July 8, 1987, Diego relentlessly produced an œuvre of more than one hundred poems and sonnets, collections, fables, and books—works that embodied a coalescence of French Symbolism, the lyric essence of ultraismo (the ultraist movement), and the free imagery of creacionismo (creationist movement) that usurped its predecessor, realism.
Skilled in this complex, specialized experimental literary technique of meter, and artful and successful in reviving the sonnet as valid mode of contemporary poetic expression, Diego was dubiously “overshadowed by his peers” when he was living, but undoubtedly honored and acknowledged appropriately after his death at ninety-one. He won such prestigious awards as the Spanish National Prize for Literature (in 1925) and the Cervantes Prize (shared with Luis Borges, 1979).