Lorca, Federico García (1898–1936)
Spanish poet and playwright. His plays include Bodas de sangre/Blood Wedding (1933), Yerma (1934), and La casa de Bernarda Alba/The House of Bernarda Alba (1936). His poems include the collection Romancero gitano/Gypsy Ballad-book (1928) and the ‘Lament’ written for the bullfighter Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Lorca was shot by the Falangists during the Spanish Civil War.
He was born in Fuente Vaqueros, near Granada. Early collections of poetry were Libros de poemas/Books of Poems (1921) and Canciones/Gypsy Songs (1927). He established himself with the Romancero gitano, a collection of mysterious and beautiful ballads of gypsy life and Andalusian folklore. In 1929–30 he visited New York, and his experiences there are reflected in Poeta en Nuevo York/Poet in New York (published posthumously in 1940). Returning to Spain, he founded a touring theatrical company and began to write plays.
| Lorca's death was a cause célèbre, and he was for many years viewed with suspicion by the authorities in Spain. |
