Margarita Ferreras
Margarita Ferreras | |
|---|---|
| Born | María Margarita Ferreras Lorenzo 26 February 1900 Alcañices, Spain |
| Died | 19 November 1964 (aged 64) Palencia, Spain |
| Education | Residencia de Señoritas |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, poet |
María Margarita Ferreras Lorenzo (1900–1964) was a Spanish writer and poet of the Generation of '27.
Biography
[edit]Margarita Ferreras was born in Alcañices on 26 February 1900, to Abelisa Lorenzo García, a native of Canfranc, and Francisco Ferreras Toro, a native of Alcañices. Her father was treasury controller of the Province of Palencia. Her uncle was José Ferreras Toro, journalist, lawyer, and politician of the Constitutional Party.[1]
She earned a school honors diploma in 1878. When her father died, the family moved to Madrid, where she became involved with cultural figures.[1] The writer Álvaro Retana dedicated his work Ninfas y sátiros. Escenas pintorescas de Madrid de noche to Ferreras, remembering her as one of his first girlfriends.[2] She aspired to star in Federico García Lorca's play The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden, but her role went to the writer and actress Magda Donato.[1]
Ferreras attended the Residencia de Señoritas in Madrid, and frequented the Lyceum Club Femenino. She was also a member of the Ateneo de Madrid. Known in literary circles, she participated in numerous events, such as the reading of works by Latin American poets, including Juana de Ibarbourou, in the tribute paid to the Uruguayan poet Juan Zorrilla de San Martín in March 1932.[3] She also published in magazines such as Proa.[4]
In the early 1930s, after publishing her book Pez en la tierra, Ferreras disappeared from public life. She was briefly admitted to a sanatorium due to nervous problems, and was diagnosed with "exogenous psychosis".[1] She maintained correspondence with Miguel de Unamuno and Maria de Maeztu, among others. In some letters, she asked her lover, Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, for money.[5] The writer Manuel Altolaguirre recalled in his memoir El caballo griego: reflexiones y recuerdos (1927–1958) that he met Ferreras in Valencia during the Spanish Civil War, "with her reason lost".[6]
She resided in Murcia in 1939. After the Civil War, she returned to Madrid for a time, later moving to Zamora.[7] Ferreras died in Palencia on 19 November 1964, and is buried in the Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles municipal cemetery.[5]
Work
[edit]Pez en la tierra (Fish on Land) was her only book. Published in 1932, 250 copies of it were printed on linen paper on the press of Concha Méndez and Manuel Altolaguirre.[8] Ferreras dedicated it to Juan Ramón Jiménez, and it was prefaced by Benjamín Jarnés.[6] The book begins with a quote from Saint John of the Cross. It is divided into four sections, beginning with love poems, followed by a series of landscapes dedicated to José Ortega y Gasset, two romances in the style of García Lorca, and ends with a series of poems titled "Sur", which evoke the paintings of Julio Romero de Torres.[6][9]
The book met with great critical success, with favorable reviews from newspapers such as ABC, Heraldo de Madrid, La Libertad, and Luz, placing Ferreras among the ranks of prominent poetic figures of the day.[8][10][11][12]
Recognition
[edit]In 2010, Pepa Merlo published an anthology of women poets from the Generation of '27, titled Pez en la tierra in reference to Ferreras's book.[13]
One of her romances, "Por la verde, verde oliva", was set to music by the singer Sheila Blanco as part of the project Cantando a las poetas del 27.[14]
In October 2022, her work was included in the exhibition Las Sinsombrero at the Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa in Madrid.[15]
On 18 November 2023, a floral tribute and poetry reading were held at her gravesite, organized by the teacher and writer Dolores Fidalgo and the Círculo Literario Margarita Ferreras de Alcañices.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Garcerá, Fran. "María Margarita Ferreras Lorenzo" (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Toro Ballesteros, Sara (2015). "El escritor que se pintó a sí mismo: Los figurines de Álvaro Retana" [The Writer Who Painted Himself: The Figurines of Álvaro Retana] (PDF). Creneida (in Spanish). 3. University of Córdoba: 190. ISSN 2340-8960. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Un homenaje al poeta de la raza Zorrilla de San Martín" [A Tribute to the People's Poet Zorrilla de San Martín]. Revista hispanoamericana de ciencias, letras y artes (in Spanish). XI (107). Madrid: 79. March 1932. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ "El estudiante en acción" [The Student in Action]. El Sol (in Spanish). Madrid. 1 December 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ a b García, A. (8 September 2019). "Margarita Ferreras recupera su voz" [Margarita Ferreras Recovers Her Voice]. La Opinión-El Correo de Zamora (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b c Agudo, Inmaculada Plaza (2011). Imágenes femeninas en la poesía de las escritoras españolas de preguerra (1900–1936) [Feminine Images in the Poetry of Pre-War Spanish Writers (1900–1936)] (Thesis) (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. pp. 250–252. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Rodríguez López-Ros, Sergio (25 December 2018). "La olvidada poeta alistana Margarita Ferreras" [The Forgotten Poet From Alcañices, Margarita Ferreras]. Comarcalistana (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ a b "La poeta desconocida de la Generación del 27" [The Unknown Poet of the Generation of '27]. Entretanto Magazine (in Spanish). 29 December 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Pez en la tierra". Ahora (in Spanish). Madrid. 6 August 1932. p. 17. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ Ros, Samuel (17 November 1932). "De la violeta a la estrella" [From the Violet to the Star]. Heraldo de Madrid (in Spanish). p. 13. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ Fernández, J. Díaz (5 July 1932). "Poemas de Margarita Ferreras". Luz (in Spanish). Madrid. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ de Lezama, Antonio (11 September 1932). "'Pez en la tierra', poesías de Margarita Ferreras". La Libertad (in Spanish). Madrid. p. 7. Retrieved 20 May 2024 – via Biblioteca Nacional de España.
- ^ Díaz De Castro, Francisco (9 July 2010). "Peces en la tierra. Antología de mujeres poetas en torno a la generación del 27" [Fish on Land: Anthology of Women Poets Around the Generation of '27]. El Cultural (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Cantando a las poetas del 27 de Sheila Blanco" [Singing to the Poets of '27 by Sheila Blanco] (in Spanish). Instituto Cervantes. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ García Martin, Javier (24 December 2022). "También nosotras: dos zamoranas en la Generación del 27" [We Too: Two Women From Zamora in the Generation of '27]. Zamorateca (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Un sentido homenaje a Margarita Ferreras" [A Heartfelt Tribute to Margarita Ferreras]. Palencia en la Red (in Spanish). 18 November 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
