Joaquín Arderíus
Encyclopedia
Joaquín Arderíus y Sánchez Fortún (May 1885, Lorca
, in Murcia
—January 20, 1969, Mexico City
) was a Spanish
experimental and political novelist.
Arderíus studied in Madrid
before taking engineering courses at the University of Liège
. He abandoned these studies to dedicate himself to literature and leftist
politics, and was jailed many times for his revolutionary activities during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera
. In 1927, Arderíus founded the very successful periodical Oriente. He also edited, together with Antonio Espina and José Díaz Fernández, the political periodical Nueva España from 1930 to 1931, with an initial print run of 40,000 copies. In 1929, he became affiliated with the Communist Party of Spain, but after 1933, he became aligned with the Republican Left
.
His novels include: Mis mendigos (1915); the Nietzschean Así me fecundó Zaratustra (1923); the erotic Yo y tres mujeres ("I and Three Women") (1924); La duquesa de Nit (1926); La espuela (1927); Los príncipes iguales (1928); Justo (1929), a satire on Roman Catholicism; El comedor de la pensión Venecia (1930); the political Campesinos (1931), and Crimen (1934). With José Díaz Fernández, he wrote Vida de Fermín Galán ("Life of Fermín Galán") (1931).
During the Spanish Civil War
, he served as president of the Antifascist
organization Socorro Rojo Internacional, composed of unions, workers’ organizations, and leftist political parties, which supported the Republican
cause against Francisco Franco
. Arderíus went into exile in 1939, first to France
and then Mexico
, after Adolf Hitler
's occupation of Paris
. He worked for the embassy of the Spanish Republic there, and later in the Mexican Ministry of National Education. During his exile, he abandoned the writing of novels, and instead wrote a biography of Don Juan de Austria
.
Though they were considered too difficult to be commercially successful, Arderíus’ novels are currently being reexamined for their influence on other anti-Franco modernists and post-modernist novelists.
Lorca
Lorca is a municipality and town in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain, 36 miles southwest of the city of Murcia. It had a population of 92,694 in 2010, up from the 2001 census total of 77,477. Lorca is the municipality with the second-largest surface area in Spain with...
, in Murcia
Region of Murcia
The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast....
—January 20, 1969, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
) was a Spanish
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...
experimental and political novelist.
Arderíus studied 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...
before taking engineering courses at the University of Liège
University of Liège
The University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
. He abandoned these studies to dedicate himself to literature and leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
politics, and was jailed many times for his revolutionary activities during the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera
Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...
. In 1927, Arderíus founded the very successful periodical Oriente. He also edited, together with Antonio Espina and José Díaz Fernández, the political periodical Nueva España from 1930 to 1931, with an initial print run of 40,000 copies. In 1929, he became affiliated with the Communist Party of Spain, but after 1933, he became aligned with the Republican Left
Republican Left (Spain)
The Republican Left was a Spanish left-wing republican party founded in 1934.The party was founded in 1934 following the left's defeat in the 1933 election, by the merger of Manuel Azaña's Republican Action, part of Marcelino Domingo's Radical Socialist Republican Party and Santiago Casares...
.
His novels include: Mis mendigos (1915); the Nietzschean Así me fecundó Zaratustra (1923); the erotic Yo y tres mujeres ("I and Three Women") (1924); La duquesa de Nit (1926); La espuela (1927); Los príncipes iguales (1928); Justo (1929), a satire on Roman Catholicism; El comedor de la pensión Venecia (1930); the political Campesinos (1931), and Crimen (1934). With José Díaz Fernández, he wrote Vida de Fermín Galán ("Life of Fermín Galán") (1931).
During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish 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...
, he served as president of the Antifascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
organization Socorro Rojo Internacional, composed of unions, workers’ organizations, and leftist political parties, which supported the Republican
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
cause against Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
. Arderíus went into exile in 1939, first to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and then Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, after Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's occupation of 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...
. He worked for the embassy of the Spanish Republic there, and later in the Mexican Ministry of National Education. During his exile, he abandoned the writing of novels, and instead wrote a biography of Don Juan de Austria
Don Juan de Austria
Don Juan de Austria may refer to:People:*John of Austria, general and illegitimate son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
.
Though they were considered too difficult to be commercially successful, Arderíus’ novels are currently being reexamined for their influence on other anti-Franco modernists and post-modernist novelists.
Sources
- Biography (in Spanish)
- V. Fuentes, «De la novela expresionista a la revolucionaria proletaria: en tomo a la narrativa de J . Arderius», en Papeles de Son Armadans, CL.XXIX (Feb 1971), pp. 197-215;
- M. F. Vilches de Frutos, «El subjetivismo como constante vital: la trayectoria literaria de J. Arderius», en Dicenda. Cuadernos de Filología Hispánica, III (1984), pp. 141-161.
- Rosemary Goring (editor), Larousse Dictionary of Writers (1994), p. 36.