Maria Antònia Salvà i Ripoll facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maria Antònia Salvà i Ripoll
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| Born | 4 November 1869 |
| Died | 29 January 1958 (aged 88) |
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Notable work
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Poesies |
| Movement | Renaixença (Catalan Renaissance) |
| Awards | 1st runner-up ca:Englantina d'or for La rosa dins la neu |
Maria Antònia Salvà i Ripoll (born in 1869 – died in 1958) was an important poet and translator from Mallorca, an island in Spain. She was the sister of a politician named Antoni Salvà i Ripoll and a painter named Francesc Salvà Ripoll. Maria Antònia was special because she was the first woman poet to write in the Catalan language.
She is seen as the first modern poet and translator in Catalan. She was part of a cultural movement called the Renaixença, which means "Renaissance" or "rebirth" in Catalan. This movement aimed to bring back and celebrate the Catalan language and culture. Maria Antònia wrote many poems, like "Espigues en flor" (1926) and "El retorn" (1934). She also wrote prose, which is like regular writing, such as Viatge a Orient (1907).
People sometimes said she "disguised herself as a translator" to explore the male-dominated poetry of her time. Her translations were very popular. One of her most famous translations was of Frédéric Mistral's poem Mireia in 1917.
Contents
Growing Up
Maria Antònia Salvà was born on November 4, 1869, in Palma. This city is the capital of Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands. Her mother passed away when Maria Antònia was just a baby. She and her brother Antoni went to live with relatives in Llucmajor. Her oldest brother Francesc stayed with their father in Palma.
From a very young age, Maria Antònia loved poetry and languages. In her memoir, Between Memory and Longing, she wrote that her love for writing songs and poems seemed to be "innate" or natural for her. She even mentioned that her wet nurse said she knew many songs even as a baby.
When she was six, she met her father in Palma and went to school at the Col·legi de la Puresa. She started writing poems in Catalan when she was about 14 or 15. These early poems showed that she knew it was unusual for a young woman to be writing poetry back then. At 16, she moved back to Llucmajor.
In Palma, her writing career grew because of her father's friends. She met many important thinkers and writers from the Renaixença movement. These included Miquel Costa i Llobera, who became her mentor and guided her literary journey.
Her Work
In 1893, Maria Antònia became well-known in Catalan magazines. She continued writing until her first collection of poems, called Poesies, was published in 1910. At this time, her name was shared in publications about the new century.
Maria Antònia also started writing in prose. She kept a diary about her trip to the Holy Land in 1907 with her mentor, Costa i Llobera. She also began translating. She became strongly connected to the French poet Frédéric Mistral because she translated his works, especially Mireia in 1917. This made her the first modern literary translator. She then translated works from French and Italian too.
In 1918, other writers from Mallorca honored her in Palma. In the 1920s, she found her most mature and unique poetic voice. Her poetry often focused on the beautiful nature of her home island. Even when there was censorship against Catalan language during the Franco era, a publishing house called Editorial Moll started printing her complete works in 1948. Maria Antònia became an inspiration for new generations of writers who visited Llucmajor in the 1940s and 1950s.
Her Style
Other writers have described Maria Antònia's style as having a "tidy sensibility." This means her writing was very organized and careful, but also full of feeling. Josep Maria Llompart, another writer, said that her poetry had a "taste for order" and a "delicate tone." He thought these qualities were often seen as feminine.
Another writer, Josep Carner, said her writing had "angelic tidiness." He felt that everything in her poems was perfectly placed, with every emotion having the right music. He believed she helped people connect with beauty in a very special way.
Xesca Ensenyat, another writer, said that Maria Antònia's style was not about big ideas or complex theories. Instead, it was "a poetry of the daily anecdote." This means she wrote about everyday life and connected with rural themes, which are common in Catalan literature.
Defending Catalan Culture
In 1935, Maria Antònia Salvà led the Jocs Florals de Mallorca, which were poetry contests celebrating Catalan culture. She gave a speech defending the Catalan identity and language. In June 1936, she was one of the people who signed a document called the Resposta als catalans, which was a response to the Catalan people.
Her Later Years
Maria Antònia Salvà passed away at her childhood home in Llucmajor on January 29, 1958. She was 88 years old.
Her Writings
Maria Antònia's work often focused on the landscape around her. However, in her poems about her own life, she showed that she knew her writing would be shaped by the fact that she was a woman.
By 1893, things were slowly changing for women. Education was becoming more valued, and women's role as educators of children was recognized. While mothers were respected, they were often expected to focus only on their homes and families. Women writers often accepted this idea, believing their writing would always come second to their household duties. Even with these limits, the world of literature began to accept women poets.
Translations She Made
- Frederic Mistral, "Les Illes d'or" (1910)
- Frederic Mistral, Mireia (1917)
- Andrée Bruguière de Gordot, "Dins les ruïnes d'Empúries. Sonets" (1918)
- Francis Jammes, "Les geòrgiques cristianes" (1918)
- Alessandro Manzoni, "Els promesos" (1923–24)
- Petrarca, Sis sonets de Petrarca en el VI Centenari del seu enamorament de Laura, 6 d'abril de 1327 (1928)
- Petrarca, In vita di madonna Laura. In morte di madonna Laura
- Santa Teresa de Jesús, Poemes de Santa Teresa de l'Infant Jesús (1945)
- Giovanni Pascoli, Poesies (1915–42) Published in 2002
- Poemes de Maria Antònia Salvà. Llibre de poemes orientat a infants amb il·lustracions de Pavla Reznicková publicat a El tinter dels clàssics. 21 Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat (1990)
- She also translated works by Giosuè Carducci and Giacomo Leopardi. Many of her translations appeared in different journals, and some were even published after her death.
See also
In Spanish: Maria Antònia Salvà para niños
- ca:sa Llapassa
- Cultural feminism
