Federico García Lorca

by Robert Bovington

 

"A poet never gets shot" - Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca was born in the village of Fuente Vaqueros, Granada in 1898. He is considered by many people to be the greatest Spanish poet and playwright of the 20th century - well, in Spain and particularly Andalucía he is highly regarded anyway! 

I personally was not aware of the poet and his works until I accompanied a Spanish friend on a visit to the Natural Park of the Cabo de Gata in the province of Almería. Not far from the village of Rodaquilar, there is an old farm building called "Cortijo del Fraile". It was here that a chilling real life murder took place - an event on which Lorca based his play 'Blood Wedding'.

´Cortijo del Fraile' nr Rodaquilar

This is one of his best-known works along with 'Gypsy Songs', 'Poet in New York', 'Yerma' and 'The House of Bernarda Alba'. 

In nearby Granada, Lorca is revered. This was not always the case - or at least not openly because his books were prohibited and mention of his name forbidden during the Franco years. He had antagonised the Catholic Church, the Monarchy, the Military and landowners with his writings where he had focussed on social injustice and human suffering. He had particularly condemned the Catholic Reconquest of Arab Granada. In his view a great civilisation was lost and poetry, architecture, astronomy and delicacy replaced by the poor, narrow-mindedness of the new city inhabitants. In some ways I have to agree. Whenever I gaze upon the sheer splendour of places like the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba or even the irrigation systems in the Alpujarras, I wonder what has gone wrong with the Muslim people. Nowadays, they only seem fit for running corner shops or planting bombs! 

Anyway, because of his views, Lorca was a prime target for the Franco death squads. The fact that he was also a homosexual probably didn't help either! So he was killed. In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Fascist soldiers shot him! 

Over seventy years later, his home city of Granada has started to honour him. Granada's airport is called 'Aeropuerto Federico García Lorca'; postcards of the poet and his drawings are displayed alongside those of the Alhambra in the city's shops and kiosks and the tourist industry has jumped on the bandwagon by offering 'Lorca route' itineraries. Visits can be made to a number of sites in the area related to Lorca's life including Víznar near Granada, the site of his murder. 

It was a short life but a fruitful one. His works are a testimony to his literary prowess even if his gravestone isn't - he was buried in an unmarked grave!

Robert Bovington

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George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair (alias George Orwell) 
by Robert Bovington 

George Orwell © Robert Bovington

George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War and wrote of his experiences in Spain in 'Homage to Catalonia' (1938).
 

He was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903 in Bengal, India. However, at the age of one he moved to England with his mother. His father, a Civil Servant, remained in India until 1907. 

Eric Blair was educated at St Cyprian's Eastbourne, Wellington and Eton and had a number of jobs before embarking on a career in journalism. He had a short spell with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma and a brief period as a schoolteacher. 

Based on his experiences in Burma, Paris, London and Suffolk he was to write many novels including 'Down and Out in Paris and London' (1933), 'Burmese Days' (1934) and 'A Clergyman's Daughter' (1935). He wrote under the pseudonym of George Orwell. 

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'The Road to Wigan Pier' was published in 1937. It was an account of poverty among the working class in the depressed areas of northern England. His political leanings were distinctly left wing. He had resigned from the Indian Imperial Police because of his revulsion to imperialism and his research for 'The Road to Wigan Pier' reinforced his socialism. 

In 1936, Eric Arthur Blair travelled to Spain, initially to report on the Civil War. He decided, however, to join the growing list of 'foreign' volunteers fighting for the Republicans against Franco's Nationalist Army. Trouble was, he found himself fighting against Communists factions too! He had joined the 'Workers Party of Marxist Unity' - the POUM and fought on the Aragón and Teruel front lines. He achieved the rank of second lieutenant but had the misfortune to be quite badly injured by a bullet through the throat. He recovered but his voice was never quite the same thereafter! 

In May 1937, he fought against the Communists, who were trying to suppress their political opponents, at the Battle of Barcelona. He was nearly arrested due to his membership of the POUM and was forced to flee Spain and return to England. It was these incidents that tempered his left wing views - he was still a passionate Socialist but with a dread of Communism.
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'Homage to Catalonia' was published in 1938. The book was an autobiographical account of George Orwell's time in Spain and included not only his personal experiences but also observations about Spain and Spanish life.
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Back in the UK, Orwell was to continue his journalistic work as well as writing further books including the classics - Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). He died of tuberculosis in January 1950.


Robert Bovington
May 2015

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