sexta-feira, 4 de setembro de 2009

Vicente Blasco Ibañez (1867-1928) em Macau

Na sua volta ao Mundo - iniciada em Outubro de 1923 (passada para o livro à Volta do Mundo/La Vuelta Al Mundo De Un Novelista) Blasco passou por Macau e fez questão de conhecer Camilo Pessanha. Foi a sua casa acompanhado do Governador de Macau na altura (1922-24), Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues.

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (January 29, 1867 – January 28, 1928) was a Spanish realist novelist writing in Spanish, a screenwriter and occasional film director.
Born in Valencia, today he is best known in the English-speaking world for his World War I novel Los cuatro jinetes del apocalipsis. Filmed in 1921 as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, it was filmed again in 1962, reset in World War II. However, in his time he was a best-selling author inside and outside of Spain, and also known for his controversial political activities. While Sangre y arena (Blood and Sand) and Los cuatro jinetes del apocalipsis are his most popular novels, particularly outside of Spain, his Valencian novels such as La barraca and Cañas y barro are the ones most valued by scholars.
He finished studying law, but hardly practised. He divided his time between politics, literature and dalliances with women, of whom he was a deep admirer. He wrote with uncanny speed and energy. He was a fan of Miguel de Cervantes.
His life, it can be said, tells a more interesting story than his novels. He was a militant Republican partisan in his youth and founded a newspaper, El Pueblo (translated as either The Town or The People) in his hometown. The newspaper aroused so much controversy that it was brought to court many times and censored. He made many enemies and was shot and almost killed in one dispute. The bullet was caught in the clasp of his belt. He had several stormy love affairs.
He volunteered as the proofreader for the novel Noli Me Tangere, in which the Filipino patriot José Rizal expressed his contempt of the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. He travelled to Argentina in 1909 where two new cities, Nueva Valencia and Cervantes, were created. He gave conferences on historical events and Spanish literature. Tired and disgusted with government failures and inaction, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez moved to Paris at the beginning of World War I. He was a supporter of the Allies in World War I. His themes include his native Valencia.
He died in Menton, France, in 1928 at the age of 61, in the residence of Fontana Rosa (also named the House of Writers, dedicated to Cervantes, Dickens and Shakespeare) that he built.

Romancista espanhol. Licenciado em Direito, inicia a sua carreira literária escrevendo em catalão, mas depois passa a escrever em castelhano. Tem alguma actividade política, aderindo ao republicanismo federalista. Desenvolve uma intensa actividade como jornalista e orador, destacando-se na sua juventude como agitador democrático e anticlerical. Em 1891 funda o jornal El Pueblo, criando depois as editoras Prometeo e Sempere, a partir das quais leva a cabo um importante trabalho de divulgação cultural e política entre as classes populares. Em 1909 vai para a Argentina, criando ali duas colónias agrícolas que fracassam economicamente. Em 1914 estabelece-se em Paris e a partir de 1920 faz várias viagens aos Estados Unidos, onde é nomeado doutor honoris causa pela Universidade de Washington. Em desacordo com a política do ditador Primo de Rivera, sai de Espanha e fixa-se em Nice. A sua obra novelística, reflectindo as realidades de Espanha, utiliza recursos próprios do naturalismo de Zola. Os seus romances mais conhecidos são Os Quatro Cavaleiros do Apocalipse, A Catedral e Areias Sangrentas, ambos transpostos para o cinema.

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