Carmen Baroja
Encyclopedia
Carmen Baroja Nessi Spanish
writer and ethnologist
who wrote under the pseudonym Vera Alzate. She was the sister of the writers Ricardo
and Pio Baroja
, and mother of the anthropologist Julio Caro Baroja
and film director Pio Caro Baroja.
, a Basque
writer and poet who made his living as a mining engineer, and Carmen Nessi y Goñia, a woman of Basque
and Italian
descent. At the time of her birth her father was editing Bai, Juana, Bai, the first (Basque
-Castilian
) bilingual periodical to be published in Pamplona
. Closing down after six issues her father went back to his profession as a mining engineer taking the family to Burjassot
near València, Cestona
in Guipúzcoa and San Sebastián
. In 1894 her family moved to Madrid
to help her aunt, Juana Nessi, in her bakery, Viena Capellanes, after the death of her husband, Matías Lacasa. Her early education was at Catholic
girls schools, with private lessons in French
and music. Thanks to her father's love for theatre and music she regularly attended concerts and theatrical productions. At this time both her brothers were gaining prominence on the cultural scene, with Ricardo
becoming recognized as a painter and Pío
having his first literary works published. Through them she came into contact with artists, writers and intellectuals who were shaping the new cultural world of Spain. In 1902 she contracted typhoid fever
and her brother, Doctor Pío
, recommended she go to the Santa María de El Paular Monastery
in the Sierra de Guadarrama
to convalesce. After fully recovering she returned to Madrid
and, despite her mother's opposition, began to work with metals and enamels. In 1906 she went to London
and Paris
with Pío, and studied art at the student residence of Madame Jacqueline Paulhan, husband of the aviator Louis Paulhan
. When she returned to Madrid she devoted herself entirely to her work as a goldsmith artisan making jewelry, as well as a reputation for herself.
was born followed by Ricardo, Carmen and Pío. For next several years she focused on her duties as a wife and mother. In 1917 her husband Rafael inaugurated his publishing house, Editorial Caro Raggio, which became a thriving business within three years. In 1926 Carmen rejoined active public life by participating in the creation the Lyceum Woman's Club, a feminist cultural association seeking to defend women's social and moral equality, and have full integration in education and work. Made up of artists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, scientists and writers its members included Clara Campoamor
, Zenobia Camprubí
, Elena Fortún
, Victoria Kent
, María Teresa León
, María de Maeztu
, Concha Méndez
, Margarita Nelken, and Isabel Oyarzábal de Palencia
. Even though its lectures and talks were open to the public by invitation, the Lyceum Club was perceived to represent a threat to decent bourgeios society, challenging as it did the gendered boundaries of cultural activity. The reaction of Madrid's literary elite was varied; while writers such as Federico García Lorca
, Rafael Alberti
and Miguel de Unamuno
presented lectures at the Lyceum, others were less supportive, most notably Jacinto Benavente
, whose description of the Lyceum Club members as '"tontas y locas"' (fools and madwomen) is now infamous. Among their successful legal reforms was the changing of Civil Code 57 from "a husband must protect his wife and she must obey him" to "the husband and wife must mutually protect and consider each other" and the deletion of Penal Code 438, in which "a husband who kills his adulterous wife and lover shall be punished by banishment".
caught everyone by surprise. Carmen lived with her children in Vera de Bidasoa while her husband stayed in Madrid
working at his printing press, "spending a long, cruel summer of three years observing intransigence, stupidity and cruelty, irrespective of ideologies." His publishing house was destroyed during a bombing raid and he had to return to his old job at the post office. Rafael died in 1943, a broken man. After the war the building that had housed the Lyceum Club was appropriated by the Falange
, their records burned and the group disbanded with most members going abroad or into exile. Throughout the war the building had been left intact, not even a teaspoon was missing.
In 1947 Carmen bought a house on a 57 acres (230,671 m²) olive grove in Tendilla
known as El Parador del Tío Ruperto in the province of Guadalajara
. She was excited about her house and land and enjoyed the simple pleasures like sitting under the walnut trees on a peaceful afternoon. After a few years, she began to get ill and after two operations, Carmen died of intestinal cancer on 4 June 1950. Of her four children, only Julio
and her youngest, Pío, survived. Her other two children, Ricardo and Carmen, died at earlier ages. Her manuscript, Recuerdo de una mujer de la generación del 98 (Memories of a Woman of the Generation of '98), an autobiography about the lives of men and women she came into contact with, was edited by Amparo Hurtado Albir and published for the first time in December, 1998 - putting an end to the silence and near invisibility of an intelligent and talented woman.
In Pamplona
the Calle Carmen Baroja Nessi is named in her honor.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
writer and ethnologist
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
who wrote under the pseudonym Vera Alzate. She was the sister of the writers Ricardo
Ricardo Baroja
Ricardo Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque painter, writer and engraver. As an engraver, he is considered the successor of Goya. He was the brother of the novelist Pío Baroja and writer/ethnologist Carmen Baroja...
and Pio Baroja
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
, and mother of the anthropologist Julio Caro Baroja
Julio Caro Baroja
Julio Caro Baroja was a world-renowned Basque Spanish anthropologist, historian, linguist and essayist. He was known for his special interest in Basque culture, history and society. Of Basque ancestry, he was the nephew of the renowned writer Pio Baroja; and his brother, painter, writer and...
and film director Pio Caro Baroja.
Early life
Carmen was the youngest child of Serafin BarojaSerafin Baroja
Serafín Baroja was a Basque writer and mining engineer who wrote popular Basque poetry and lyrics. He was the father of a trio of illustrious children who left a deep mark on the art and literature of twentieth century Spain...
, a Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
writer and poet who made his living as a mining engineer, and Carmen Nessi y Goñia, a woman of Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
and Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
descent. At the time of her birth her father was editing Bai, Juana, Bai, the first (Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
-Castilian
Castilian Spanish
Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers...
) bilingual periodical to be published in Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
. Closing down after six issues her father went back to his profession as a mining engineer taking the family to Burjassot
Burjassot
Burjassot is a municipality in the comarca of Horta Nord in the Valencian Community, Spain. The footballer José Carlos Cerveró was born there on 11th December 1979....
near València, Cestona
Zestoa
Zestoa is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain.-External links:* Information available in Spanish and Basque.* Information available in Spanish...
in Guipúzcoa and San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
. In 1894 her family moved to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
to help her aunt, Juana Nessi, in her bakery, Viena Capellanes, after the death of her husband, Matías Lacasa. Her early education was at Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
girls schools, with private lessons in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and music. Thanks to her father's love for theatre and music she regularly attended concerts and theatrical productions. At this time both her brothers were gaining prominence on the cultural scene, with Ricardo
Ricardo Baroja
Ricardo Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque painter, writer and engraver. As an engraver, he is considered the successor of Goya. He was the brother of the novelist Pío Baroja and writer/ethnologist Carmen Baroja...
becoming recognized as a painter and Pío
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
having his first literary works published. Through them she came into contact with artists, writers and intellectuals who were shaping the new cultural world of Spain. In 1902 she contracted typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
and her brother, Doctor Pío
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
, recommended she go to the Santa María de El Paular Monastery
Santa Maria de El Paular
The Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular is a former Carthusian monastery located just northwest of Madrid, in the town of Rascafría, located in the Valley of Lozoya below the Sierra de Guadarrama. Supposedly construction begun in 1390 by orders of Henry II of Castile, and construction proceeded...
in the Sierra de Guadarrama
Sierra de Guadarrama
The Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara...
to convalesce. After fully recovering she returned to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and, despite her mother's opposition, began to work with metals and enamels. In 1906 she went to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Pío, and studied art at the student residence of Madame Jacqueline Paulhan, husband of the aviator Louis Paulhan
Louis Paulhan
Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan, known as Louis Paulhan, was a pioneering French aviator who in 1910 flew "Le Canard", the world's first seaplane, designed by Henri Fabre....
. When she returned to Madrid she devoted herself entirely to her work as a goldsmith artisan making jewelry, as well as a reputation for herself.
Lyceum Woman's Club
In 1913 she married Rafael Caro Raggio an editor with whom she shared artistic and intellectual interests. On 14 November 1914 her first son, JulioJulio Caro Baroja
Julio Caro Baroja was a world-renowned Basque Spanish anthropologist, historian, linguist and essayist. He was known for his special interest in Basque culture, history and society. Of Basque ancestry, he was the nephew of the renowned writer Pio Baroja; and his brother, painter, writer and...
was born followed by Ricardo, Carmen and Pío. For next several years she focused on her duties as a wife and mother. In 1917 her husband Rafael inaugurated his publishing house, Editorial Caro Raggio, which became a thriving business within three years. In 1926 Carmen rejoined active public life by participating in the creation the Lyceum Woman's Club, a feminist cultural association seeking to defend women's social and moral equality, and have full integration in education and work. Made up of artists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, scientists and writers its members included Clara Campoamor
Clara Campoamor
Clara Campoamor was a Spanish politician and feminist best known for her advocacy for women's rights and suffrage during the writing of the Spanish constitution of 1931. A child of a working class family, Campoamor began work as a seamstress at age 13, later working in a number of government...
, Zenobia Camprubí
Zenobia Camprubí
Zenobia Camprubí Aymar was a Spanish-born writer and poet; she was also a noted translator of the works of Rabindranath Tagore....
, Elena Fortún
Elena Fortún
Encarnación Aragoneses Urquijo , Spanish author of children's literature who wrote under the pen name, Elena Fortún. She became famous for Celia, lo que dice the first in the series of children's novels which were a collection of short stories first published in magazines in 1929...
, Victoria Kent
Victoria Kent
Victoria Kent was a Spanish lawyer and republican politician.Born in Málaga, she was affiliated to the Radical Socialist Republican Party and came to fame in 1930 for defending - at a court martial - Álvaro de Albornoz, who would shortly afterwards go on to become minister of justice and later the...
, María Teresa León
María Teresa León
María Teresa León was a Spanish writer, activist and cultural ambassador. Born in Logroño, she was the niece of the Spanish feminist and writer María Goyri . She herself was married to the Spanish poet Rafael Alberti...
, María de Maeztu
Maria de Maeztu Whitney
María de Maeztu Whitney was a Spanish educator, feminist, founder of the Residencia de Señoritas and the Lyceum Club in Madrid. She was sister of the writer, journalist and occasional diplomat, Ramiro de Maeztu and the painter Gustavo de Maeztu...
, Concha Méndez
Concha Méndez
Concepción Méndez Cuesta was a leading Spanish poet and dramatist and member of the Generation of '27 who became known in the literary world under the pseudonym Concha Mendez.-Early life:...
, Margarita Nelken, and Isabel Oyarzábal de Palencia
Isabel Oyarzábal Smith
Isabel Oyarzábal Smith was a Spanish-born journalist, writer, actress and diplomat....
. Even though its lectures and talks were open to the public by invitation, the Lyceum Club was perceived to represent a threat to decent bourgeios society, challenging as it did the gendered boundaries of cultural activity. The reaction of Madrid's literary elite was varied; while writers such as Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
, Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti Merello was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27....
and Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
presented lectures at the Lyceum, others were less supportive, most notably Jacinto Benavente
Jacinto Benavente
Jacinto Benavente y Martínez was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922....
, whose description of the Lyceum Club members as '"tontas y locas"' (fools and madwomen) is now infamous. Among their successful legal reforms was the changing of Civil Code 57 from "a husband must protect his wife and she must obey him" to "the husband and wife must mutually protect and consider each other" and the deletion of Penal Code 438, in which "a husband who kills his adulterous wife and lover shall be punished by banishment".
Spanish Civil War & After
The Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
caught everyone by surprise. Carmen lived with her children in Vera de Bidasoa while her husband stayed in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
working at his printing press, "spending a long, cruel summer of three years observing intransigence, stupidity and cruelty, irrespective of ideologies." His publishing house was destroyed during a bombing raid and he had to return to his old job at the post office. Rafael died in 1943, a broken man. After the war the building that had housed the Lyceum Club was appropriated by the Falange
Falange
The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive , known simply as the Falange, is the name assigned to several political movements and parties dating from the 1930s, most particularly the original fascist movement in Spain. The word means phalanx formation in Spanish....
, their records burned and the group disbanded with most members going abroad or into exile. Throughout the war the building had been left intact, not even a teaspoon was missing.
In 1947 Carmen bought a house on a 57 acres (230,671 m²) olive grove in Tendilla
Tendilla
Tendilla is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 330 inhabitants....
known as El Parador del Tío Ruperto in the province of Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
. She was excited about her house and land and enjoyed the simple pleasures like sitting under the walnut trees on a peaceful afternoon. After a few years, she began to get ill and after two operations, Carmen died of intestinal cancer on 4 June 1950. Of her four children, only Julio
Julio Caro Baroja
Julio Caro Baroja was a world-renowned Basque Spanish anthropologist, historian, linguist and essayist. He was known for his special interest in Basque culture, history and society. Of Basque ancestry, he was the nephew of the renowned writer Pio Baroja; and his brother, painter, writer and...
and her youngest, Pío, survived. Her other two children, Ricardo and Carmen, died at earlier ages. Her manuscript, Recuerdo de una mujer de la generación del 98 (Memories of a Woman of the Generation of '98), an autobiography about the lives of men and women she came into contact with, was edited by Amparo Hurtado Albir and published for the first time in December, 1998 - putting an end to the silence and near invisibility of an intelligent and talented woman.
In Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
the Calle Carmen Baroja Nessi is named in her honor.
Writings
- El encaje en España (1933; Lace in Spain)
- Martinito el de la casa grande (1942; Martinito of the Big House)
- Joyas populares y amuletos mágicos (1945; Popular Jewels and Magical Amulets)
- Tres Barojas: poesas (1995; Three Barojas: Poems)
- Recuerdo de una mujer de la generación del 98, (1998; Memories of a Woman of the Generation of 1898)