33 Facts About Rafael Alberti

Rafael Alberti Merello was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27.

Rafael Alberti is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called Silver Age of Spanish Literature, and he won numerous prizes and awards.

Rafael Alberti published his memoirs under the title of La Arboleda perdida in 1959 and this remains the best source of information on his early life.

Rafael Alberti began to play truant and defy the school authorities until he was finally expelled in 1917.

Rafael Alberti began to write poetry in earnest and submitted a few, successfully, to various avant-garde magazines.

Rafael Alberti enjoyed great success over the next few years in the sense of artistic prestige: he was still financially dependent on his family.

Rafael Alberti was starting to make friends with the people who would eventually get grouped together as the Generation of '27.

Rafael Alberti already knew Damaso Alonso and, on one of his returns to Madrid, he met Vicente Aleixandre, a resident of the Salamanca district.

Rafael Alberti himself was present at the meeting at a Madrid cafe in April 1926, when the plans for the tercentenary were first sketched out - along with Pedro Salinas, Melchor Fernandez Almagro and Gerardo Diego.

For Rafael Alberti, it became a religion in all but name and there is evidence that suggests that some of his friends tired of his unceasing attempts to "convert" them.

Rafael Alberti published them in a magazine entitled El Mono Azul which he cofounded with his wife.

Rafael Alberti took part in a commission in charge of the purge of the Alliance members.

Shortly after his return Rafael Alberti was elected deputy for Cadiz in the constituent Congress of the Spanish parliament on the Communist Party Ticket.

Rafael Alberti's wife died on 13 December 1988 from Alzheimer's disease.

Rafael Alberti died at the age of 96 from a lung ailment.

Rafael Alberti's ashes were scattered over the Bay of Cadiz, the part of the world that mattered most to him.

Rafael Alberti was awarded Lenin Peace Prize for the year 1964 - after lobbying from Pablo Neruda - and Laureate Of The International Botev Prize in 1981.

Rafael Alberti had settled on a style and was writing fluently within it.

Rafael Alberti was working on the poems which would form El alba when he was invited by his brother, who had succeeded their father as a wine-salesman, to take a trip with him to the Cantabrian coast.

Rafael Alberti had never before visited northern Spain and the car-trip through the villages and mountains made a strong impression on him.

Rafael Alberti had by now met Garcia Lorca and seems to be trying to emulate him.

Rafael Alberti's next collection, Cal y canto, is a big departure.

Rafael Alberti rejects some of the folkloric influences of the previous two works and picks up again the baroque forms, such as the sonnets and tercets, and the Ultraist thematic material of Marinero.

Rafael Alberti had been placed in charge of collecting the poems dedicated to Gongora as part of the Tercentenary celebrations and there are many signs of Gongora's influence on this work.

Rafael Alberti even wrote a poem about a heroic performance by the goalkeeper of FC Barcelona - "Oda a Platko" - in a match against Real Sociedad in May 1928.

Rafael Alberti makes it clear that he is writing as Rafael Alberti, child of the Bay of Cadiz and the twentieth century.

Rafael Alberti has lost his youthful high spirits and finds himself deshabitado.

Rafael Alberti recalls one specific incident from his schooldays, when the day-boys played truant and went to the beach to bathe naked and masturbate.

Subsequently, Damaso Alonso recalled that there was a lively discussion about a certain writer - probably Rafael Alberti - who had become deeply involved in politics.

Rafael Alberti was not especially interested in writing for the theatre but he managed to make a big impact with at least two plays.

Rafael Alberti converted the ballad into a play which was performed during June 1931, again to sharply mixed reactions.

Rafael Alberti's other plays did not achieve such fame or notoriety.

Rafael Alberti wrote several volumes of memoirs under the title La arboleda perdida.