Fernando Arrabal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fernando Arrabal
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Arrabal in 2012
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| Born | Fernando Arrabal Terán August 11, 1932 Melilla, Spain |
| Occupation | Playwright, screenwriter, film director, novelist and poet |
| Period | 1950s–present |
Fernando Arrabal Terán (born August 11, 1932) is a famous Spanish writer, filmmaker, and poet. He was born in Melilla, Spain, and moved to France in 1955. Arrabal often describes himself as "desterrado," which means he feels like he's both an expatriate (someone living outside their home country) and an exile (someone forced to leave their home country).
Arrabal has created a huge amount of work! He has directed seven full-length movies and written over 100 plays. He's also published 14 novels, hundreds of poetry collections, and many essays. One of his most famous writings was a letter he sent to Francisco Franco, who was the dictator of Spain at the time. A theater critic from The New York Times once called Arrabal one of the last great figures of modern art.
In 1962, Arrabal helped start the Panic Movement with Alejandro Jodorowsky and Roland Topor. This group was inspired by the Greek god Pan and focused on art that was playful, shocking, and sometimes a bit chaotic. In 1990, he was given a special title: Transcendent Satrap of the Collège de Pataphysique. This is a very unique and imaginative group that honors creative thinkers. Many other famous artists and writers, like Marcel Duchamp and Umberto Eco, have also received this title. Arrabal was also part of André Breton's surrealist group and was friends with Andy Warhol.
Contents
Early Life and Challenges (1932–1946)
Fernando Arrabal was born to Carmen Terán González and Fernando Arrabal Ruiz, who was a painter. His second family name is Terán.
In 1936, when Fernando was very young, the Spanish Civil War began. His father supported the government and was sentenced to prison. Later, in 1941, his father was sent to a hospital because he was very ill, but he managed to escape and was never seen again.
After the war started, Fernando and his mother moved to Ciudad Rodrigo and then to Burgos. Burgos was the headquarters for General Franco's government. Fernando went to a Catholic school there from 1937 to 1940. When the war ended, he and his mother moved to Madrid.
In 1941, Fernando won a national prize for gifted children. He continued his studies at well-known schools in Madrid, like Las Escuelas Pías de San Antón. He loved to read and was always eager to learn new things and experience life.
Growing Up and Discovering Art (1947–1955)
In 1947, Fernando's mother wanted him to prepare for military school, but he didn't want to go. He protested by skipping classes. So, she sent him to Tolosa in 1949 to study business. By 1950, he had already started writing plays, though they weren't published yet.
In 1951, Arrabal began working in the paper industry. He later moved to Valencia and passed his bachillerato, which is like a high school diploma that allows you to go to university in Spain. He then moved back to Madrid and started studying law. During this time, he spent a lot of time at the Ateneo de Madrid, a cultural center, where he listened to poets. He was also working on his early plays, including Picnic and El triciclo.
In 1954, Arrabal hitchhiked to Paris to see a play by Bertolt Brecht. Later that year, he met Luce Moreau in Madrid, who became his wife. In 1955, he received a scholarship to study in Paris. While there, he became very ill with tuberculosis. He later called this illness a "lucky mishap" because it allowed him to stay in Paris, which he considered his true home, a place of artistic freedom.
Views on Society
Fernando Arrabal is known for being against the dictatorship of General Franco and against kings or queens ruling a country. He was also interested in ideas of anarchism, which is about people having freedom and not being controlled by strict governments.
He had a complex relationship with the Communist Party. Even though he had some connections with them while living in exile, they had disagreements later on, especially about one of his plays called The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria.
Awards and Achievements
Arrabal's work has been recognized all over the world. He has received many important awards, including the Grand Prize for Theatre from the Académie Française (a famous French academy), and the World Theater Prize.
In 2001, he was nominated for the Premio Cervantes, which is one of the most important literary awards in the Spanish-speaking world. He was also considered a finalist for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005. On July 14, 2005, France gave him the Légion d'honneur, which is a very high honor. In 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from a university in Greece.
Some of his other awards include:
- 2019: Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise (Spain)
- 2010: Premier Prix International Théâtre du Millénaire
- 2008: Honorary Citizen of Erlanger (Germany)
- 2007: Max de Honor, Teatro (Spain)
- 2005: René Char Gold Medal, Avignon Festival
- 2003: National Dramatic Literature Award (Spain)
- 2002: Gold Medal of the City of Avignon
- 2001: Premio Nacional de Teatro (Spain)
- 2000: National Prize for Literature (Spain)
- 1993: Theatre Prize of the Académie française
- 1990: Elected Transcendent Satrape of the Collège de 'Pataphysique
- 1986: Fine Arts Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture (Spain)
- 1982: Nadal Prize for his novel La torre herida por el rayo
- 1976: Obie Award for Theater (New York)
- 1959: Ford Foundation Award
Selected Works
Fernando Arrabal has created many different kinds of artistic works.
Movies
Arrabal has written and directed seven full-length movies. He even won an award for his contributions to cinema, the Premio Pier Paolo Pasolini.
- 1971: Viva la muerte (Long Live Death)
- 1973: J'irai comme un cheval fou (I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse)
- 1975: L'arbre de Guernica (The Tree of Guernica)
- 1982: The Emperor of Peru (also known as Odyssey of the Pacific)
- 1983: Le cimetière des voitures (The Car Cemetery) – a TV movie
- 1992: Adieu, Babylone! (Goodbye, Babylon!)
- 1998: Jorge Luis Borges: Una vida de poesía (Jorge Luis Borges: A Life of Poetry)
Some of his plays have also been made into movies, like Fando y Lis, which was directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Critics have praised his films, with one calling Viva la muerte "an absolute masterpiece."
Short Films
Arrabal has also directed shorter films:
- 1978: Sang et or (Blood and Gold)
- 1990: Échecs et Mythe (Chess and Myth)
- 1991: New York City!
Operas
Arrabal has written the stories (called librettos) for several operas. His opera Faustbal premiered in Madrid in 2009. He described it as a story about a woman in the future who seeks to unite love and kindness, exploring galaxies while a war rages on.
Other operas with his stories include:
- Apokaliptica
- L'opéra de la Bastille
- Picknick im Felde
- Guernica
In 1985, Arrabal also directed two operas himself in Belgium.
Novels
Arrabal has written many novels, which are long stories. Here are some of them:
- Baal Babylone (1959)
- L'enterrement de la sardine (The Burial of the Sardine, 1961)
- La Tour prends garde (The Tower Struck by Lightning, 1983)
- La Reverdie (1985)
- La piedra iluminada (The Compass Stone, 1985)
- La vierge rouge (The Red Virgin, 1986)
- La fille de King-Kong (King Kong's Daughter, 1988)
- Porté disparu (Missing, 2000)
- Champagne pour tous (Champagne for Everyone, 2002)
Artists' Books
Arrabal has created over 700 "artists' books." These are special books made in collaboration with other artists, often featuring unique designs, illustrations, and limited editions. He has worked with famous artists like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte.
Poetry
He has also published several poetry collections:
- La pierre de la folie (The Stone of Madness, 1963)
- Cent sonnets (One Hundred Sonnets, 1965)
- Humbles paradis (Humble Paradises, 1985)
Plays
Arrabal has published more than 100 plays. Many of his plays have been performed in theaters around the world, including at the famous La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City during the 1970s.
Some of his well-known plays include:
- Oraison (Orison, 1958)
- Les deux bourreaux (The Two Executioners, 1958)
- Fando et Lis (Fando and Lis, 1958)
- Le cimetière des voitures (The Car Cemetery, 1958)
- Guernica (1961)
- Le tricycle (The Tricycle, 1961)
- Pique-nique en campagne (Picnic on the Battlefield, 1961)
- L'architecte et l'empereur d'Assyrie (The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria, 1967)
- Le jardin des délices (Garden of Delights, 1968)
- ...Et ils passèrent des menottes aux fleurs (And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, 1969)
Paintings
Arrabal has called himself a "frustrated painter." He has created about 50 paintings and 100 drawings and collages. These have been shown in art museums in Paris and Milan. He often works with other artists to create large oil paintings based on his detailed sketches.
In 1962, his first painting was chosen to be featured in an art magazine by André Breton, a key figure in the surrealist art movement.
Essays and Non-Fiction
Arrabal has written many essays and non-fiction books, sharing his thoughts on various topics. Some of these include:
- Carta al General Franco (Letter to General Franco, 1972)
- Le Panique (The Panic, 1973)
- Sur Fischer: Initiation aux échecs (On Fischer: Introduction to Chess, 1974)
- Carta a Fidel Castro (Letter to Fidel Castro, 1983)
- El Greco (1991) – about the famous painter
- Carta al Rey de España (Letter to the King of Spain, 1995)
- Un esclave nommé Cervantès (A Slave Named Cervantes, 1996) – about the author of Don Quixote
- Lettre à Staline (Letter to Stalin, 2004)
Interest in Chess
Fernando Arrabal is very interested in chess. He has attended many chess tournaments and even writes a regular column about chess for the French magazine L'Express. He has written books about chess, including Echecs et mythes (Chess and Myths) and Bobby Fischer: el rey maldito (Bobby Fischer: The Cursed King).
Images for kids
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Arrabal in 2012
See also
In Spanish: Fernando Arrabal para niños
