Baroja, Pio (1872-1956)

Spanish novelist of Basque extraction. His works include a trilogy dealing with the Madrid underworld, La lucha por la vida/The Struggle for Life (1904-05), and the multivolume Memorias de un hombre de acción/Memoirs of a Man of Action (1913-28). His severe attitude to life is best seen in El árbol de la ciencia/The Tree of Knowledge (1911), based on the story of his youth.

Baroja was born in Donastia-San Sebastián. After working as a country doctor and as the manager of his family's bakery, he began to write novels at the age of 30. His books are full of adventure and rapid action and are written in short, simple paragraphs. The novels cover a vast field; some take place in the Basque provinces (Las inquietudes de Shanti Andía/The Restlessness of Shanti Andia 1911); others describe many different countries (El mundo es así/The Way of the World 1912). His pessimism is relieved by the speed of events, as well as by a lyrical strain in his writings.