Jorge Guillén facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jorge Guillén
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Sculpture of Jorge Guillén in los Jardines del Poniente de Valladolid
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Jorge Guillén Álvarez
18 January 1893 Valladolid, Spain
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| Died | 6 February 1984 (aged 91) Málaga, Spain
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| Awards | Premio Cervantes, Premio Internacional Alfonso Reyes, Hijo Predilecto de Andalucía, Ollin Yoliztli Prize |
Jorge Guillén Álvarez (born January 18, 1893 – died February 6, 1984) was a very important Spanish poet. He was a member of a famous group of writers known as the Generation of '27. Besides writing poems, he was also a university teacher, a scholar, and a literary critic.
In 1957 and 1958, he gave special lectures at Harvard University. These talks were later published as a book called Language and Poetry: Some Poets of Spain. His last lecture was a tribute to his friends from the Generation of '27. In 1983, he was honored as a "Favorite Son of Andalusia." He was also nominated four times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Contents
Life Story of Jorge Guillén
Early Life and Education
Jorge Guillén was born in Valladolid, Spain, where he spent his childhood. From 1909 to 1911, he lived in Switzerland. He studied at universities in Madrid and Granada. In 1913, he earned his degree in philosophy.
His life was similar to that of his friend, Pedro Salinas. Jorge Guillén took over from Salinas as a Spanish teacher at the Collège de Sorbonne in Paris. He taught there from 1917 to 1923. In Paris, he met Germaine Cahen, and they got married in 1921.
Starting His Career
In 1924, Jorge Guillén earned his doctorate degree from the University of Madrid. His special project was about a difficult poem by Luis de Góngora. Around this time, his first poems began to appear in magazines.
He became a professor of Spanish Literature at the University of Murcia. He taught there from 1925 to 1929. While in Murcia, he helped start and edit a literary magazine called Verso y Prosa.
Connections with the Generation of '27
Jorge Guillén often visited the Residencia de Estudiantes, a famous student residence. This allowed him to meet younger poets of the Generation of '27. These included Rafael Alberti and Federico García Lorca. He became good friends with Lorca and they wrote many letters to each other.
In 1926, Lorca visited Valladolid for a poetry reading. Jorge Guillén introduced him, praising Lorca as a poetic genius. Guillén also took part in celebrations for Góngora's 300th anniversary. He read some of his own poems at an event in Seville, which was very successful.
Teaching and Exile
From 1929 to 1931, he taught at Oxford University. In 1932, he became a professor at the University of Seville. He attended the first showing of Lorca's play Bodas de sangre in Madrid in 1933. He also saw Lorca's traveling theater company, La Barraca, perform.
In July 1936, just before the Spanish Civil War began, he was at a party in Madrid. Lorca read his new play, La Casa de Bernarda Alba, there for the last time. When the war started, Guillén was in Valladolid. He was briefly put in prison in Pamplona for political reasons.
He returned to his teaching job in Seville. In July 1938, he decided to move to the USA with his family. This was because of the war in Spain. Also, his wife was Jewish, which might have worried him.
Life in the United States and Later Years
In the USA, he joined Pedro Salinas at Wellesley College. He was a professor of Spanish there from 1941 until he retired in 1957. After retiring, he moved to Italy. His first wife passed away in 1947. In 1958, he married Irene Mochi-Sismondi in Florence.
He continued to give lectures at places like Harvard and Princeton. He was also a professor at the University of Pittsburgh for a while. In 1970, he had a fall and broke his hip. In 1976, he moved to Málaga, Spain.
In 1976, he won the Miguel de Cervantes Prize, a very important award for Spanish writers. In 1977, he received the Premio Internacional Alfonso Reyes. Jorge Guillén passed away in Málaga in 1984 at the age of 91. He was buried in the Anglican Cemetery of Saint George there.
Guillén and Salinas: A Poetic Comparison
Jorge Guillén and Pedro Salinas were often compared to each other. They were good friends and a bit older than most other poets in their group. They also had similar career paths. Both poets wrote in a way that didn't always focus on specific people or places.
However, they had some differences in their poetry. Salinas wanted to show the deeper meaning behind things. He tried to teach readers how to see the world differently. Guillén, on the other hand, shared his own thoughts and feelings. He let the reader observe his thinking process.
Poetic Works
- Cántico (75 poems), M., Revista de Occidente, 1928
- Cántico (125 poems), M., Cruz y Raya, 1936
- Cántico (270 poems), México, Litoral, 1945
- Cántico (334 poems), Bs. As., Sudamericana, 1950
- Huerto de Melibea, M., Ínsula, 1954
- Del amanecer y el despertar, Valladolid, 1956
- Clamor. Maremagnun, Bs. As., Sudamericana, 1957
- Lugar de Lázaro, Málaga, Col. A quien conmigo va, 1957
- Clamor... Que van a dar en la mar, Bs. As., Sudamericana, 1960
- Historia Natural, Palma de Mallorca, Papeles de Sons Armadans, 1960
- Las tentaciones de Antonio, Florencia/Santander, Graf. Hermanos Bedia, 1962
- Según las horas, Puerto Rico, Editorial Universitaria, 1962
- Clamor. A la altura de las circunstancias, Bs. As., Sudamericana, 1963
- Homenaje. Reunión de vidas, Milán, All'Insegna del Pesce d'oro, 1967
- Aire nuestro: Cántico, Clamor, Homenaje, Milán, All'Insegna del Pesce d'oro, 1968
- Guirnalda civil, Cambridge, Halty Eferguson, 1970
- Al margen, M., Visor, 1972
- Y otros poemas, Bs. As., Muchnik, 1973
- Convivencia, M., Turner, 1975
- Final, B., Barral, 1981
- La expresión, Ferrol, Sociedad de Cultura Valle-Inclán, 1981
- Horses in the Air and Other Poems, 1999
Jorge Guillén in Popular Culture
- The novel Yo-Yo Boing! (1998) by Giannina Braschi talks about great Spanish poets. It includes a discussion about Jorge Guillén and other masters like Vicente Aleixandre and Pedro Salinas.
- A monument called Homage to Jorge Guillén was created by Eduardo Chillida. It stands outside the National Sculpture Museum in Valladolid, Spain.
- Luis Santiago Pardo made another monument called Jorge Guillén and Childhood in Poniente Gardens in 1998.
- The Spanish government has even put his picture on postage stamps in 1993.
See also
- Miguel de Cervantes Prize
- Pedro Salinas
- Juan Ramón Jiménez
- Spanish poetry
