Maria Teresa Leon Goyri (1903-1988) was a Spanish writer who was part of the Generation of 27. Some scholars of her work maintain that her talent and work remained in the shadow of her husband, the also writer Rafael Alberti.
The writer had to battle with a Spanish society that was limiting for women in aspects as essential as education. However, María Teresa knew how to fight, although the price she had to pay was to lose custody of the children she had with her first husband, all to achieve her freedom..
León's work developed in genres such as novels, theater, short stories, poetry, essays, and screenplays. In addition, it was characterized by developing issues related to social conventions, freedom, war and the role of women in society..
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María Teresa was born on October 31, 1903 in the city of Logroño. He came from a family of good social class. His parents were Ángel León, an army colonel, and Oliva Goyri, sister of the renowned Spanish writer and researcher María Goyri.
María Goyri was precisely the most determining influence in the life of María Teresa León; it motivated her to continue studying, despite what social norms dictated. At that time women had to study until they were fourteen, however, the poet broke those barriers, and fought for her dreams.
María Teresa lived her childhood between Barcelona, Madrid and Burgos, cities where she had her first years of training.
The decision she made to continue with her high school studies caused her great inconvenience, because she was supposed, according to the rules of society at that time, that she had to prepare to be a wife and a housewife..
The writer was the victim of expulsion by the nuns from the Sagrado Corazón de Leganitos school in the Spanish capital. This was due, among other things, to reading "forbidden" books and arguing with colleagues for not having intellectual interest. However, those inconveniences did not stop him.
Upon completing his high school studies, he went on to study at the Instituto de Libre Enseñanza in Madrid. A few years later, she obtained a degree in letters and philosophy, and that is how she began to consolidate herself in the cultured and intellectual environment of Spain..
María Teresa León got married when she was very young, in 1920. At the age of seventeen she married Gonzalo de Sebastián Alfaro. It was a union product of convenience, she did not love him. However, the couple had two children: Gonzalo and Enrique.
At the beginning of her married life, María Teresa also began to make her way into the literary world. He published in the Diario de Burgos newspaper, whose articles he signed with the pseudonym "Isabel Inghirami", the heroic character of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio.
Soon after, he dropped the alias, and began to sign the works with his name. In 1928 he went to Argentina for work matters, and in 1929 he published two works: Stories to dream Y The beauty of bad love. At that time the life of the writer took new directions and took some turns.
The marriage that María Teresa had with Gonzalo de Sebastián Alfaro did not go well. However, life surprised the writer with the arrival of love. In 1929 he met the one who was his life partner, the also writer Rafael Alberti, more than enough reason to divorce.
Following the separation of the father from her children, the writer lost custody of the children; it was the price she had to pay for breaking away from a poorly conceived marriage from its inception. However, the writer went on, and in 1932 she married Alberti civilly..
After finishing the collection of stories Cold rose With illustrations by her husband, María Teresa won a scholarship from the Board for the Expansion of Studies to study European theatrical activity. So he had the opportunity to visit several countries.
In 1933, together with Rafael Alberti, he visited Denmark, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Holland and the now extinct Soviet Union. In addition to the research that was entrusted to him, he accumulated learning that he used in the writing of several articles published in the newspaper The Herald of Madrid.
When they finished the tour of Europe, the couple returned to their country, and undertook new projects. The couple founded the biweekly magazine October, which circulated between 1933 and 1934, with certain communist features, and in which María Teresa published Strike in the port.
In 1934 they returned to the Soviet Union where they participated in the First Congress of Soviet Writers. Then she and Alberti traveled to the United States to get help for people affected by the Revolution in Asturias. By then, María Teresa had already started her political and social activity..
When the coup d'etat took place in 1936, María Teresa and her husband were in Ibiza; when they managed to leave the island they returned to the peninsula. The writer was appointed secretary of the Alliance of Antifascist Writers, and also participated in the founding of the magazine The Blue Monkey.
After carrying out various literary, social and political activities in Spain during the Civil War, the writer was forced into exile. With her husband, she first went to France, where they lived until the end of 1940, and dedicated herself to translating for the radio. Paris-Mondial.
That same year he went to Argentina, a country where his daughter Aitana was born in 1941, and where he lived with his family for twenty-three years. During that time he continued with his literary activity, he wrote works such as Against all odds, The great love of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Y Fair play.
On May 28, 1963, Maria Teresa went with her family, including her parents, to Rome, where they lived for fourteen years. It was there that he began to write Melancholy memory, and she remained active as a writer and lecturer, also made trips to Europe and China.
María Teresa returned to Spain after thirty-six years in exile, on April 27, 1977. However, she did not feel entirely comfortable in her homeland, and her health began to deteriorate. He died of Alzheimer's on December 13, 1988.
The work of María Teresa León was characterized by having a cultured language that was both simple and sober. His first works had traditional features, and as he evolved and matured he became avant-garde, and finally, realistic.
Many of his works were framed within the autobiographical, where struggle, love, loneliness, hopelessness, war and passion were main themes. It also reflected social and political issues from a critical point of view.
- Strike in the port (1933).
- Mercy (date unknown).
- The optimistic tragedy (1937).
- Freedom on the roof. Dream and truth of Francisco de Goya.
- The story of my heart.
- Against all odds (1941).
- The great love of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: a poor and passionate life (1946).
- Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the Cid Campeador (1954).
- Fair play (1959).
- Doña Jimena Díaz de Vivar, great lady of all duties (1960).
- Menesteos, April Sailor (1965).
- Cervantes: the soldier who taught us to speak (1978).
This novel by María Teresa León was a reflection of the experiences of the Spanish, and his own during the Civil War. It is a deep work, and with dramatic features, where the writer also made a critique of the war conflicts and the indelible marks it leaves on those who suffer it.
This novel by the Spanish writer belongs to her years of exile in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was also a play about war, where Camilo, a friar, is the main protagonist. Out of fear he hid in the coal bunkers, but then decided to be a member of the Guerrillas of the Theater.
The character's life took a turn, when he fell in love with an actress named Angelines. María Teresa reflected some aspects of her life in the novel, because she was secretary of the theatrical organization, without neglecting her anti-war position and her support for those most affected.
- Stories to dream (1928).
- The beauty of love evil (1930).
- Cold rose, moon skater (1934).
- Tales of modern Spain (1935).
- You will die away (1942).
- The pilgrimages of Teresa (1950).
- Fables of Bitter Time (1962).
- General Chronicle of the Civil War (1939).
- History has the floor. News on the rescue of the artistic treasure of Spain (1944).
- The most beautiful eyes in the world (1943).
- The goblin lady (1945).
- Bécquer's great love (1945).
- Our everyday home (1958).
- Smile china (co-authored with her husband Rafael Alberti, also in charge of the illustrations, 1958).
- Melancholy memory (1970).
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