Carmen de Burgos and Seguí (1867-1932) was a writer, journalist, translator, also defender and activist for women's rights. He was part of the Generation of 98, and some of his writings were signed with the pseudonyms Colombine, Perico el de los Palotes, Marianela and Honorine.
Carmen's work was focused on developing the role of women in society, beyond being a wife, mother and housewife. Its mission was to include it in cultural, academic and intellectual actions, through independence and freedom..
Carmen de Burgos was a prolific writer, that is, her works were many. Essays, novels, newspaper articles and translations made up the variety of his writings. The fantastic woman Y I want to live my life were some of his recognized titles.
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María del Carmen Ramona Loreta was born in Almería, on December 10, 1867, into a wealthy family, who owned mines and lands. His parents were José de Burgos y Cañizares and Nicasia Seguí y Nieto. Carmen de Burgos was the eldest sister of the ten children her parents had.
The parents of Carmen de Burgos were concerned about giving their children a careful and quality education. They did not discriminate based on sex, so the future writer received the same teaching as her male brothers, hence, perhaps, her interest in female equality.
In 1883, when Carmen was only sixteen years old, she married the journalist and painter Arturo Álvarez y Bustos, despite the fact that her father disagreed. The husband, who was twenty-eight years old, was the son of the governor of Almería, and was also in charge of Almeria Bufa, an ironic cut magazine.
The fact of having married prematurely did not prevent Carmen de Burgos from training professionally. In 1895, when she was twenty-eight years old, she graduated as a teacher in primary education, and three years later in higher education in the Spanish capital. That year his daughter Maria was born.
Shortly after graduating, in 1901, he began to practice in Guadalajara. Meanwhile, Carmen's married life was not solid, and she began to unravel. Her husband was not what she believed, at that moment she understood her father's opposition.
Carmen de Burgos went through unpleasant experiences during her married years, her husband was unfaithful on many occasions. Added to that was the death of her first two children at an early age. However, in 1901 the writer chose to leave home and start over..
Carmen de Burgos, determined, went with her daughter María to Madrid, taking with her the pain of having lost her two oldest children. Its beginning was firm, the following year it obtained a column in the newspaper The balloon, which was called Feminine notes, and in 1903 the Universal Journal He also opened the doors and signed his articles as Colombine.
The journalistic activity of Carmen de Burgos led her to be recognized as a professional in the area, something unprecedented in the Spain of her time. In addition, his press writings began to generate controversy, because he touched on issues such as divorce in a still conservative and traditional society; this, in the long run, cost him censorship by the Franco dictatorship.
At the same time, he was in charge of spreading ideas, thoughts, lifestyles and fashions that were totally new to Spain, which resulted in it having both allies and detractors. Later, in 1905, he won a scholarship to expand knowledge at the educational level, and traveled through France and Italy. Carmen became the female role model.
In 1906, after returning from his trip to Europe, he wrote in the newspaper the Herald of Madrid a series of articles in favor of the right of women to vote. He also formed a group of gatherings, of a modernist nature, where important intellectuals of the time coincided. His presence was respected in each space, preceded by his remarkable verb.
It was precisely in those literary meetings where he met who would become his new love, the nineteen-year-old and future writer, Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Admiration, friendship and love came together every afternoon at the Burgos house; and in 1909, against the gazes of the talkers, they began the couple relationship.
In 1907 Carmen de Burgos served as a teacher in the town of Toledo, but she traveled regularly to Madrid. Later, in 1909, he was a correspondent for the newspaper The Herald, regarding the events of the Barranco del Lobo, where the Spanish troops fell before the soldiers of the African region Rif.
In 1909 the father of his daughter, Arturo Álvarez y Bustos, passed away. What happened meant that the relationship with Gómez de la Serna was better viewed by conservative society. Although de la Serna and de Burgos did not get married, the affair lasted for about twenty years.
The daughter of Carmen de Burgos, María, decided to dedicate herself to acting, then in 1917 she married the actor Guillermo Mancha and they went to live in America. However, thirteen years later the marriage ended, and she returned to Spain..
Carmen tried to help her, but her daughter was unsuccessful, she had also become addicted to drugs. The greatest surprise was taken by the writer when she discovered that María and de la Serna had an affair. Although the love affair lasted a short time, de Burgos emotionally broke with his partner permanently.
In 1931, when the government of the Second Republic began, the campaigns and actions that Carmen de Burgos had carried out bore fruit. Divorce, female vow and civil marriage were approved. From that date on he was part of the Republican Radical Socialist Party, occupying an important position.
The writer also published the novel in that year I want to live my life, She was also part of the board of directors of the International League of Iberian and Hispano-American Women. Carmen de Burgos also joined Freemasonry, something strange for this group. The anti-ecclesiastical position of the writer was always evident.
The death of Carmen de Burgos was sudden, on October 8, 1932 she felt bad during an event. They took her home, where she was quickly treated by her doctor and friend, Gregorio Marañón. However, the efforts were in vain, because he passed away the next day; I was sixty four years old.
His departure moved both intellectuals and politicians. It was not for less, his work, by that time already enjoyed importance in all areas and had penetrated deep into Spanish society. His remains rest in the Madrid Civil Cemetery. During the Franco regime his work was banned due to its liberal content.
The style of the work of Carmen de Burgos y Seguí had a clear, precise and forceful language, due to the themes it developed. In addition, his writings were characterized by being realistic, innovative and modern; the freedom and independence of his personality were reflected in his essays and articles.
His work was of a social and cultural nature. Through his pen, he managed to ensure that women were valued within Spanish society as a being capable of undertaking and developing just like men. His frequent themes were feminism, the female vote, divorce and the inclusion of women.
- Hallucination (1905).
- The misfits (1909).
- The balcony (1909).
- The ramp (1917).
- They and they or they and they (1917).
- The last smuggler (1918).
.Return. Spiritist novel (1922).
- The hour of love (1922).
- The ill-married (1923).
- The spirited (1923).
- The fantastic woman (1924).
- Everyone's uncle (1925).
- The antique dealers (Unknown date).
- I want to live my life (1931).
- Dagger of carnations (1931).
- Literary essays (1900).
- 20th century literary art album (1901).
- Soul notes (1901).
- Modern treatise on labors (1904).
- Divorce in Spain (1904).
- Women in Spain (1906).
- The art of knowing how to live. Social practices (1906).
- Travel in Europe. Impressions (1906).
- Letters without addressee (Unknown date).
- The practical dressing table (1910).
- the voice of the dead (1911).
- Giacomo Lopardi. His life and his works (1911).
- Women's social mission (1911).
- New card templates (1914).
- Impressions from Argentina (1914).
- Artist Confidences (1916).
- My travels in Europe. Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway (1916).
- My travels in Europe, volume II. Germany, England, Portugal and Madrid (1916).
- Do you want to know the secrets of the dressing table? (1917).
- Figaro (1919).
- Modern women and their rights (1920).
- Feminine Vademecum (1920).
- Empress Eugenia (1920).
- The art of being a woman. Beauty and perfection (1922).
- Letter templates. It contains all the rules regarding the epistolary style (1924).
- Amadis (1924).
- The salads (1924).
- Everyone's uncle (1925).
- The art of being a woman. Beauty and perfection: aesthetics and the psychology of fashion. The great masters. Luxury and its creations.
- Talking to the descendants (1929).
- Glorious life and unfortunate death of Don Rafael del Riego. A crime of the Bourbons (1931).
- Do you want to eat well? Practical kitchen manual. It was reissued in 1931 and 1936.
- The woman in the home. Domestic economy (Unknown date).
- Health and Beauty. Hygiene and toilet secrets (Unknown date).
- The vote, schools and the trades of women (Unknown date).
- Art of being elegant (Unknown date).
- Art of knowing how to live (Unknown date).
- Treasure of beauty. Art of seducing (Unknown date).
- The art of being loved (Unknown date).
- Modern kitchen (Unknown date).
- Castle treasure (1907).
- Paths of life (1908).
- The poison of art (1910).
- The indecisive (1912).
- The justice of the sea (1912).
- Frasca the fool (1914).
- Bad loves (1914).
- Villa Maria (1916).
- The usurers (1916).
- Black man (1916).
- The unexpected (1916).
- The pursuer (1917).
- Passions (1917).
- The best film (1918).
- Everyone except that (1918).
- Two loves (1919).
- The beach flower (1920).
- Faustino's loves (1920).
- Honeymoon (1921).
- The enchanted city (1921).
- The meddler (1921).
- Article 438 (1921).
- Russian princess (1922).
- The murdered suicide (1922).
- The cold woman (1922).
- The desire (1923).
- Abroad (1923).
- The boredom of love (1923).
- The one who married very young (1923).
- The miniature (1924).
- The mane of discord (1925).
- The nostalgic (1925).
- The missionary of Teotihuacán (1926).
- Mercy (1927).
- Ran out of her (1929).
- The demonized of Jaca (1932).
- The story of my life. Mute, deaf and blind by Helen Keller (1904).
- The mental inferiority of women by Paul Julius Moebius (1904).
- The Evagenlios and the second Christian generation by Ernesto Renan (1904).
- The Russo-Japanese War by Leon Tolstoi (1904).
- In the world of women by Roberto Bracco (1906).
- Sixteen years in Siberia by Leon Deutsch (1906).
- The king without a crown by Georges de Bouhelier (1908).
- The conquest of an empire by Emilio Salgari (1911).
- Pleasure physiology by Pablo Mantegazza (1913).
- Mornings in Florence by John Ruskin (1913).
- Tales to Mimi by Max Nordau (1914).
- The Amiens Bible by John Ruskin (1916).
- "We must live in the interior landscape of our souls".
- "The true progress of the peoples is in ethics".
- "I believe that the future belongs to us".
- “One of the things that should preferably attract the attention of society, due to its great importance and necessity, is the culture and education of women, on which civilization and the progress of peoples depend. To take care of the education of women is to take care of the regeneration and progress of humanity ”.
- "Social evil comes from ignorance and obscurantism, salvation is in education and work ...".
- "My aspirations are that on the foundations of this devastated society, the society of the future will rise".
- “… The true progress of the peoples is based on ethics, no nonsense or conventionalism; human laws based on the same nature, love of brothers for all; that individual rights end where the pain of others begins ".
- "Later I went to the city ... and I, who believed that all humanity was good, saw its little things, its miseries ... and I felt the pain of the sorrows of others, and I wept with the oppressed and envied the worlds where men do not live".
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