Consuelo Berges facts for kids

Consuelo Berges Rábago (1899 – 1988) was a talented Spanish translator, journalist, writer, and biographer. She was known for her strong ideas and for fighting for what she believed in.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Consuelo Berges was born in 1899 in Ucieda, Spain. She grew up with a single mother in a family that believed in free thinking and republican ideas. Consuelo did not go to a regular school. Instead, she learned by reading many books from her family's large library. She read books in both Spanish and French.

When she was 15, Consuelo moved to Santander. She lived with her father's family there. She was preparing for a special test to get into the Normal School of Teachers. This school used new teaching methods that focused on modern ideas about education.

After her training, she worked in Cabezón de la Sal. She taught at the Torre Academy, which helped high school students prepare for their exams. There, she met Víctor de la Serna, who was a school inspector. He also started a newspaper in Santander called La Región.

A Voice for Change

Consuelo Berges began writing articles for La Región. She used the pen name Yasnaia Poliana. Later, she wrote for bigger newspapers like El Sol in Madrid and La Nación in Buenos Aires. She also wrote for the Revista de las Españas.

Her articles often shared strong and sometimes controversial opinions. This made many important thinkers of her time interested in her work. She became friends with and wrote to famous people like Clara Campoamor, José Ortega y Gasset, and Rosa Chacel.

In 1926, Consuelo left Spain because she was unhappy with the government at the time, led by Miguel Primo de Rivera. She moved to Arequipa, Peru. There, she taught grammar and wrote articles for a local newspaper. She also gave talks. In one talk in 1927, she spoke about "The Indianist Myths." She challenged the popular idea that blamed all problems on Spanish colonization. She believed people should take responsibility for their own actions.

In 1928, she traveled from Peru to Bolivia and then to Argentina. In Buenos Aires, she wrote for El Diario Español. She wrote articles that went against the Spanish embassy's efforts to unite Spanish people in Argentina under the dictator's party.

In 1929, she became the director of a magazine called Cantabria. She also worked with Dr. Avelino Gutiérrez at the Spanish Cultural Institution. She contributed to the literary section of La Nación newspaper. She became friends with writers like Alfonsina Storni and Concha Méndez.

Life During Difficult Times

In 1931, when the Second Republic was declared in Spain, Consuelo returned to Europe. She went to Paris with her friend Concha Méndez. She stayed with her cousin Julia Gutiérrez and her second cousin, the painter María Blanchard.

In the newspapers and magazines she wrote for, Consuelo strongly supported her ideas about freedom. She also defended the right for women to vote. This was a big debate at the time. Her friend Clara Campoamor argued for women's voting rights in the Spanish Parliament.

At the end of 1931, Consuelo arrived in Madrid. Clara Campoamor offered her several jobs in the new Republic, but Consuelo turned them down. She continued to write articles to earn money and to share her ideas. She also worked as a librarian. She wrote for publications connected to workers' unions and groups that supported women's rights, like Mujeres Libres. She was also part of a group that worked for equal rights for men and women.

In 1935, Consuelo secretly published her book Explicación de Octubre. This book was about the Revolution of 1934. She had to publish it secretly to avoid the government's censorship. The book was widely read by revolutionary groups.

In July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began. Consuelo was sent to take care of an orphanage that the nuns had left. She helped evacuate the children to keep them safe from bombings. She traveled across Spain during the war to get them to Granollers. After leaving the children with others, she went to Barcelona. There, she worked for the Mujeres Libres magazine with other important women writers and artists.

In February 1939, Consuelo joined many other people fleeing Spain on foot to France. They faced bombings and harsh conditions. She was taken to a camp with many other people who had fled Spain.

She managed to escape again and arrived in Paris without money or papers. Her friends Baltasar Lobo and Mercedes Comaposada helped her, with support from Picasso. She lived in hiding in Paris for four years. She earned money by teaching Spanish and writing articles for newspapers in Argentina. In 1943, the Germans arrested her. They thought she was Jewish because she had no papers. After months in custody, she was sent back to Spain and put in a camp with other Spanish people.

With help from friends and family, Consuelo avoided jail. However, she was not allowed to work as a teacher or write for newspapers in Spain. To survive, she started translating books from French. She translated works by famous authors like Gustave Flaubert and Marcel Proust.

A Champion for Translators

For many years, Consuelo lived in "internal exile" because of her republican beliefs. She worked hard to improve the working conditions for translators. She also fought for translators to get copyright for their translations. In 1955, she helped start the Professional Association of Translators and Interpreters.

In 1956, Consuelo won the Fray Luis de León Award [es]. She won it for her translation of Histoire de l'Espagne chrétienne by Jean Descola.

In 1982, she created the Stendhal Translation Award [es]. This award is given for the best translations from French into Spanish. Even after all her achievements, in 1983, she had to ask the government for a scholarship to help her financially.

Consuelo Berges passed away in Madrid in 1988 at the age of 89. There is a street named after her in Santander, Spain.

Works

• Escalas 1930, Buenos Aires, Talleres Gráficos Argentinos, 1930
• Concepción Arenal: Algunas noticias de su vida y obra, Edit Gráf. Maxera y Cia, 1931
• "La mujer y la masonería", Boletín Oficial de la GLE, August–September 1932
• Explicación de Octubre, 1935
• Stendhal. Su vida, su mundo, su obra, Madrid, Aguilar, 1962
• Stendhal y su mundo, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1983

Selected translations

See also

In Spanish: Consuelo Berges para niños