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- Miguel de Cervantes' baptism occurred on October 9, 1547, at Alcala de Henares, Spain, so it is reasonable to assume he was born around that time, and Alcala de Henares has long claimed itself as his birthplace. The son of Rodrigo de Cervantes, an itinerant and not-too-successful surgeon, Miguel was educated by monks as he and his family wandered from city to city. In 1570 he obtained a position as a kind of secretary to Cardinal Aquaviva in Rome. In 1571 he became a soldier and fought in the famous Battle of Lepanto that pitted Spain against Turkish forces. Being ill with fever at the time, and wishing to prove his bravery, he asked to be put in the most dangerous fighting position on his ship. He was, and received two wounds in the chest and one in his left hand, which rendered him disabled for life. Returning home with his brother Rodrigo in 1575, they were captured by the Barbary pirates and sold into slavery. He and his fellow captives made three attempts to escape, all unsuccessful - one because they were betrayed by a fellow captive. In each attempt Cervantes deliberately shouldered the blame on himself, in an attempt to shield his fellow captives from torture. The Turkish Bey was so impressed with his perhaps foolhardy audacity that he spared him each time. The Cervantes family was able to ransom Rodrigo but not Miguel, and he remained in captivity until 1580, when he was finally ransomed by two Trinitarian friars.
He then began a writing career, which was at first completely unsuccessful due to the fact that Cervantes deliberately tried to write the kind of plays and poetry popular at the time, and to imitate their style, something he was woefully inadequate at doing. He fathered a daughter out of wedlock, and entered into an unhappy marriage in 1584. He took on a series of odd jobs to make ends meet. His financial difficulties netted him three or more prison terms and an excommunication by the Spanish Inquisition, although it was clear he never committed any crimes. Finally, in 1605, he published the first part of the novel which gave him immortality, the brilliant and unforgettable "Don Quixote de La Mancha", which was supposed to be a satire on the chivalric novels of the time, but was actually a work unlike anything anyone else had ever written (the second part followed ten years later, after the success of the first had produced a plagiarized sequel that not only coarsened the satire but contained openly insulting remarks about Cervantes). "Don Quixote"'s surface seems comic, but Cervantes, finally writing in his own personal style and no one else's, created two characters, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, to whom he gives more multi-layered depth than anyone else up to that time had given characters, except possibly the depth that William Shakespeare had given to Hamlet. The novel "Don Quixote" itself becomes an ironic mixture of comedy, humiliation, disillusionment and tragedy. All of its characters, except those in the interpolated romance novels, are believable and each reacts to Don Quixote's madness in an illuminating way. "Don Quixote" was immensely successful in its time, but it did not make Cervantes a wealthy man.
His other highly regarded works are his collection of "Exemplary Stories", published in 1613, and his "Eight Interludes", published in 1615. He died of dropsy on April 23, 1616, but in an especially ironic twist, his gravesite is lost. His contemporary, William Shakespeare, died ten days later, which according to the Julian calendar then used in England was, coincidentally, also April 23, 1616. Strangely enough, to the end of his life, Cervantes valued his poetic work more highly than his prose (perhaps just a case of wishful thinking) and never considered "Don Quixote" his masterpiece. He died without knowing that it would be one day regarded as the world's greatest novel by many critics. - Writer
- Soundtrack
Félix Lope de Vega was born on 25 November 1562 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for Ballet Tales (1955), Uchitel tantsev (1952) and La moza de cántaro (1954). He was married to Juana de Guardo and Isabel de Urbina. He died on 27 August 1635 in Madrid, Spain.- Writer
- Editor
- Soundtrack
Francisco de Quevedo was born on 26 September 1580 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and editor, known for The Witching Hour (1985), Cuéntame cómo pasó (2001) and El buscón (1979). He was married to Esperanza de Mendoza. He died on 8 September 1645 in Villanueva de los Infantes, Spain.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Pedro Calderón de la Barca was born on 17 January 1600 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for The Night of Love (1927), Der Richter von Zalamea (1920) and El príncipe encadenado (1960). He died on 25 May 1681 in Madrid, Spain.- Agustín Moreto was born on 9 April 1618 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for Less Is More (2000), Estudio 1 (1965) and Teatro de siempre (1966). He died on 28 October 1669 in Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.
- Poet and playwright, son of Nicolás Fernández de Moratin (1737-1780), who was also a playwright. In 1787, Moratín was sent on a mission to France and used his stay to study French drama and meet young poets and writers. This would inspire him to reform Spanish drama with plays in the French classical style, e.g. El Viejo y la Ninña (1790) and La Comedia Nueva (1792). After travelling through France, England, Germany, Italy and the Low Countries, Moratín improved his style, with plays such as El Barón (1803) and La Mojigata (The Female Hypocrite, 1804). His best work is El Si de las Niñas (1806). Due to political causes, Moratín was forced into exile, and went to Paris, where he died in 1828. His El médico a palos (1928) was an adaptation of Molière's Le Médecin malgré Lui.
- Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch was born on 6 September 1806 in Madrid, Spain. Juan Eugenio was a writer, known for Los amantes de Teruel (1912). Juan Eugenio died on 2 August 1880 in Madrid, Spain.
- Mariano José de Larra was born on 24 March 1809 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for Los libros (1974). He was married to Josefa Wetoret Velasco. He died on 13 February 1837 in Madrid, Spain.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Francisco Asenjo Barbieri was born on 3 August 1823 in Madrid, Spain. He was a composer, known for El Barberillo de Lavapiés (1996) and Antología de la zarzuela (1971). He died on 17 February 1894 in Madrid, Spain.- José Echegaray y Eizaguirre was born on 19 April 1832 in Madrid, Spain. José was a writer, known for Lovers? (1927), The Celebrated Scandal (1915) and The World and His Wife (1920). José died on 14 September 1916 in Madrid, Spain.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Ricardo de la Vega was born on 7 February 1839 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for La verbena de la Paloma (1921), De cuarenta para arriba (1918) and La verbena de la Paloma (1963). He died on 22 June 1910.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Federico Chueca was born on 5 May 1846 in Madrid, Spain. He was a composer, known for Melodías inolvidables (1959), Teatro Apolo (1950) and La alegría de la huerta (1940). He died on 20 June 1908 in Madrid, Spain.- Writer
- Soundtrack
José López Silva was born on 4 April 1861 in Madrid, Spain. José was a writer, known for La revoltosa (1950), La chavala (1914) and La chavala (1925). José died on 25 March 1925 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Infanta Eulalia was born on 12 February 1864 in Madrid, Spain. She was married to Antonio Maria Luis Felipe Juan Florencio de Orleans y Borbón. She died on 8 March 1958 in Irun, Spain.
- Joaquín Abati was born on 29 June 1865 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for No te ofendas, Beatriz (1953), El gran mentiroso (1953) and El orgullo de Albacete (1927). He died on 30 July 1936 in Madrid, Spain.
- Writer
- Director
Jacinto Benavente was born on 12 August 1866 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for La madona de las rosas (1919), Los intereses creados (1919) and Para toda la vida (1923). He died on 14 July 1954 in Madrid, Spain.- María Guerrero was born on 17 April 1867 in Madrid, Spain. She was an actress, known for Un solo corazón o Los muertos viven (1914) and El caballero Casarroja (1914). She was married to Fernando Díaz de Mendoza. She died on 23 January 1928 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
- Francisco Largo Caballero was born on 15 October 1869 in Madrid, Spain. He died on 23 March 1946 in Paris, France.
- Writer
- Director
Alejandro Pérez Lugín was born on 22 February 1870 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for La casa de la Troya (1925), Currito de la Cruz (1926) and In Gay Madrid (1930). He died on 5 September 1926 in Madrid, Spain.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Enrique García Álvarez was born on 10 November 1873 in Madrid, Madrid, Castilla la Nueva, Spain [now Madrid, Madrid, Spain]. Enrique was a writer, known for La alegría de la huerta (1940), El pobre Valbuena (1910) and Alma de Dios (1941). Enrique died on 23 January 1931 in Madrid, Madrid, Castilla la Nueva, Spain [now Madrid, Madrid, Spain].- Florence Earle was born on 19 October 1874 in Madrid, Spain. She was an actress, known for Nearly Naked (1933), Beer Is Here (1933) and At Your Service (1930). She was married to George Edwards (comedian). She died on 3 April 1942 in New York, New York, USA.
- Pedro Mata was born on 17 January 1875 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for El tonto de Lagartera (1927), Un grito en la noche (1950) and El hombre que se reía del amor (1933). He died on 27 December 1946 in Madrid, Spain.
- Ricardo Calvo was born on 19 April 1875 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for La fuerza del mal (1914), I Was a Parish Priest (1953) and El escándalo (1943). He died on 13 June 1966 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
- Conrado del Campo was born on 28 October 1878 in Madrid, Spain. He was a composer, known for La nao Capitana (1947). He died on 17 March 1953 in Madrid, Spain.
- Vicente Pastor was born on 30 January 1879 in Madrid, Spain. He died on 30 September 1966 in Madrid, Spain.
- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ramón Montoya was born on 2 November 1879 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Carmen (la de Triana) (1938), El alma de la copla (1965) and Black Widow (2019). He died on 20 July 1949 in Madrid, Spain.- Manuel Azaña was born on 10 January 1880 in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. He died on 3 November 1940 in Moutaubán, Tarn, France.
- Augusto Martínez Olmedilla was born on 3 May 1880 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for Al son de la marimba (1941), Por ellas aunque mal paguen (1952) and Las engañadas (1955). He died on 27 September 1965 in Madrid, Spain.
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Gregorio Martínez Sierra was born on 6 March 1881 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for Julieta Buys a Son (1935), Canción de cuna (1941) and La ciudad de cartón (1934). He died on 1 October 1947 in Madrid, Spain.- Fernando Fresno was born on 31 May 1881 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Currito de la Cruz (1926), Canelita en rama (1943) and El niño de oro (1925). He died on 28 April 1949 in Madrid, Spain.
- Born in Madrid from Eloísa Carrere Moreno, a single mother of 29 who died a month after giving birth, and Senén Canido Pardo. The father, a lawyer with political ambitions, disowned him, perhaps to avoid complications in his career. However, when he died he bequeathed most of his library to his natural son, as well as a large sum of money. Motherless a month after his birth, Carrere was entrusted to her grandmother, with whom he remained until his father later changed his mind and wanted to take him.
His first vocation was painting; then he became interested in the theater, which led him to enroll at the school of declamation Workers Instructional Center, where classes were given to the poor. At school he became fond of billiards, where he met the zarzuela's composer Federico Chueca. His grandmother fell ill and his father helped on him putting Carrere as a clerk in the Court of Auditors.
Carrere published his first verses in the weekly 'Wasp' and 'The Spark' and frequented the literary circles. He made friendship with the painter Julio Romero de Torres. In 1902 he published his first book, 'Romantic'. Under the influence of the French damn poets (especially, Verlaine, whose 'Saturnian Poems' translated and published in 1928), he was fascinated by the bohemian life.
He was married in 1906 with Milagros Saenz de Miera. In the same year, his friendship with the publisher and bookseller Gregorio Pueyo led him to prepare an anthology of modernist poetry, which was published with the title 'The court poets' anthology of modern rhymes, and in the prologue defended the new aesthetic passion and his mentor, Rubén Darío. In 1908 he wrote the poem that would give him an unprecedented popularity, "The Muse of the stream," included in his second collection of poems, 'The Death Knight', and which reflected his bohemian and decadent life conception. In 1907 he began publishing in magazines short novels on the Madrid underworld of the time: 'The brotherhood of the pirouette', 'The sadness of the brothel', 'The conquest of the Puerta del Sol', 'A terrible man', 'The destination clown','The Sixth Sense'or 'An Unlikely crime'.
Accompanied by other Bohemians, like Pedro Barrantes, Alejandro Sawa, Ciro Bayo and Pedro Luis de Gálvez he took the messy topical nightlife. Between 1910 and 1912 he collaborated with the journal 'Socialist Life', perhaps led by his sympathy for the oppressed. Between 1919 and 1922 his complete works were published. In 1922 it appeared 'Sacrifice', a novel set in the wars in Morocco. Very popular poet, the love of gambling and extravagance forced him to find a source of supplementary income in the theater. However, the economy did not stabilize until 1929, when his father died leaving him a substantial inheritance which he would not know administer. By then, he had become a monarchist and anti-Republican. Between 1935 and 1936 he collaborated on 'Information', an ultra-conservative publication financed by the banker Juan March. After the Civil War, he worked in the newspaper 'Madrid', gaining back some notoriety. Attached to Franco's regime, died on April 30, 1947. Like other authors who meant the dictatorship for, his work fell into oblivion after being rediscovered in the late twentieth century, coinciding with renewed interest for bohemian fantasy literature. Both his novel 'The tower of the seven hunchbacked' (1924) and its film adaptation are considered classics of the genre.
He was appointed official chronicler of the Villa de Madrid on November 11, 1943. - Alberto Romea was born on 16 January 1882 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Carmen (la de Triana) (1938), The Barber of Seville (1938) and El 13-13 (1944). He died on 14 April 1960 in Madrid, Spain.
- Writer
- Costume Designer
Salvador Bartolozzi was born on 6 April 1882 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and costume designer, known for Pepita Jiménez (1946), Aventuras de Cucuruchito y Pinocho (1943) and Pipo y Pipa en busca de Cocolín (1936). He was married to Magda Donato. He died on 9 July 1950 in Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico.- Fernando Aguirre was born on 1 May 1882 in Madrid. He was an actor, known for A Christmas Carol (1947), The Crime of Bordadores Street (1946) and Mi vida en tus manos (1943). He was married to Josefina Infiesta. He died on 11 September 1965 in Madrid, Spain.
- Consuelo Abad was born on 23 June 1882 in Madrid, Spain. She was an actress, known for La hora de las sorpresas (1941), La novela de un joven pobre (1941) and La mentirosa (1942). She died in 1945 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Rafael Gómez 'El Gallo' was born on 18 July 1882 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Historias de la radio (1955), Gloria que mata (1922) and The Will of a People (1938). He died on 25 May 1960 in Seville, Andalucía, Spain.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Miguel de Zárraga was born on 14 April 1883 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer and director, known for La cruz y la espada (1934), Piernas de seda (1935) and Granaderos del amor (1934). He died on 26 December 1941 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jesús Graña was born on 26 October 1883 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Don Juan Tenorio (1937), The Golden Barge (1947) and La razón de la culpa (1943). He died on 7 September 1964 in San Diego, California, USA.
- Nicolás D. Perchicot was born on 19 September 1884 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Cuentos de la Alhambra (1950), Tosca (1941) and Capitan Tempesta (1942). He died on 26 October 1969 in Madrid, Spain.
- Mercedes Brignone (Madrid, May 18, 1885 - Milan, June 24, 1967) was an Italian actress of theater, cinema and television. Daughter of Giuseppe Brignone, and sister of Guido (film director, in turn the father of actress Lilla Brignone), began as a child in her father's company; She was a lively brilliant actress. In 1903 she married the actor Uberto Palmarini with whom she worked in the same company. A number of her performances on the big screen, in thirty years of career, passing from silent to sound cinema, especially in the genre of so-called "white telephone". In 1930 she was in the cast of the first Italian sound film: "La canzone dell'amore". Always busy with the theater, the Second World War the actress turned Italy with a series of particularly paid in typically bright companies: also worked with Ruggero Ruggeri and Tino Carraro. A few years before her die, she took part in the musical spectacle "Biblioteca di Studio Uno" (1964) for television.
- María Victorero was born on 2 June 1885 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. She was an actress, known for Un hombre de negocios (1945), Noche de Reyes (1949) and Filigrana (1949). She was married to Juan Espantaleón. She died on 10 November 1969 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
He debuted in theater when he was 19 years old and later he worked in the company of the Lara theater where he played as a first actor during 16 years. He participated in a short in 1912 but his cinematographic career mostly began on the 30s, working more in cinema than in theater in the 40s and later on. Of short height and simple character, he usually played secondary roles of the typical spaniard with all its virtues and prejudices.- King Alfonso XIII was born on May 17, 1886. His mother was the former Queen of Spain and his father was the deceased King Alfonso XII. Because his father died before he was born he was considered King of Spain from the moment he was born. He grew up in and around Spain with his mother (she was an Austrian Princess) and his two sisters. In 1906 at the age of 18 he went searching for a bride. Hearing about the loveliness of the granddaughters of Queen Victoria of England he went to the court of King Edward (Victoria's son) he originally wanted Princess Patricia but since she was the daughter of Queen Victoria's second son and fourth born child she was considered too close to the throne to become Queen of Spain. Alfonso then hit on Queen Victorias 37th grandchild Victoria Eugenia. Bridging a communication gap by speaking French together, they fell in love and married in Spain on May 31, 1906. They were happy for a little bit, but the wedge that drove them apart was Victoria Eugenia's blood. Ena as Victoria was called had two brothers with a genetic disorder called hemophilia which affects how the blood clots. When Ena and Alonso's first child was born it was soon apparent that Ena had transmitted the disorder to their son. In a short time they had several other children, but never regained the intimacy that their early marriage had. One or two more children born to them had hemophilia, one of their sons became blind, and they had two daughters one of which transmitted the disorder further.
Alfonso tried to get his marriage annulled, but the Pope would not let him because of the number of children that they had together. He ruled Spain for the most part without the help of his wife, but in the 1930s Fransico Franco took over in Spain leaving the family to split up and he and Ena never saw each other again.
Happily after the death of Franco, Alonso and Ena's grandson Jaun Carlos became king of Spain. - Elena Fortún was born on 17 November 1886 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. She was a writer, known for Celia (1993). She died on 8 May 1952 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Rafael Calvo was born on 25 November 1886 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for La verbena de la Paloma (1935), Currito de la Cruz (1926) and Eran trece (1931). He died in 1966 in Madrid, Spain.- Gregorio Marañón was born on 19 May 1887 in Madrid, Spain. He was a writer, known for El ángel de la paz (1959). He died on 27 March 1960 in Madrid, Spain.
- Princess Marie De Bourbon was born on 25 May 1887 in Madrid, Spain. She is known for Janice Meredith (1924) and Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925).
- A serious rival to Rudolph Valentino as the suave, smouldering 'Latin Lover' type was black-haired Spanish-born Antonio Moreno. One of the most prominent screen stars of the 1920s, he was equally adept at romance, melodrama or comedy and appeared opposite most of the legendary movie queens of the era, from the Gish sisters to Greta Garbo, to Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford.
Moreno was born Antonio Garrido Monteagudo in Madrid and came to America at the age of fourteen. His working life began as an employee of the Northhampton Electric Light and Gas Company. He first acted on stage under the tutelage of Maude Adams whose theatre he had initially visited in order to fix the lighting. From the repertory stage in Massachusetts, he then made his way to Hollywood where he arrived in 1912.
Having made his motion picture debut at Rex-Universal Moreno then featured as a top draw card for Vitagraph until 1921. He proudly held the sobriquet "King of the Cliff-hangers" (usually as co-star to Pearl White) because of his prolific work in serials. However, the pinnacle of his career came a few years later under contract to Famous Players Lasky/Paramount (from 1923 to 1924) and at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (in 1926), at which time Moreno was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. With the advent of sound pictures, his career suffered a sharp decline, in no small measure due to a heavy Spanish accent. Nonetheless, he eventually segued into character parts and remained gainfully employed in the industry until the late 1950s. Moreno has a star on the iconic Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
He was married from 1923 to Daisy Danziger, the daughter of an oil millionaire. Their lavish mansion, called 'Paramour', was one of the largest in Hollywood and the site of many a famous party. Daisy died ten years later in a tragic car crash near Mulholland Drive. - Clara Campoamor was born on 12 February 1888 in Madrid. She died on 30 April 1972 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Pedro Fernández Cuenca was born on 5 June 1888 in Madrid, Spain. He was an actor, known for Carmen (la de Triana) (1938), La malquerida (1940) and The Barber of Seville (1938). He died on 8 December 1940 in Madrid, Spain.