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Pérez de Ayala, Ramón (1880-1962)
Spanish writer
Born in A STURIAS , Pérez de Ayala studied
law at the University of Oviedo and philos-
ophy and letters at the University of Madrid.
He combined a literary life with a public
career. The former had already been recog-
nized by his election to the Spanish Royal
Academy in 1928. During World War I he
served as a correspondent in various parts
of Europe for La Prensa of Buenos Aires.
After the establishment of the Second
Republic he was named ambassador to Brit-
ain, a post that he held until 1936. During
the S PANISH CIVIL WAR he chose self-exile in
Latin America. Aside from a number of
poems and essays Pérez de Ayala was best
known as a novelist. His early work, begin-
ning in 1903, was well received, but critics
found his creations of the 1920s to be his
best, full of satirical wit and shrewd philo-
sophical analysis. Distracted and perhaps
depressed by the political and military pres-
sures of the 1930s and the post-civil war
period, he wrote little until a few years
before his death. Pérez de Ayala's early,
largely autobiographical novels, dealing
with the education, both academic and
emotional, of a young man, make up a
series of four topics published between
1907 and 1913: Tinieblas en las cumbres
(Darkness at the top), A.M.D.G. (To the
greater glory of God), La pata de la raposa
( The Fox's Paw ), and Troteras y danzaderas
(Trotters and dancers). Between 1921 and
1926 Pérez de Ayala moved into a mature
period of sophisticated development of
character and analysis of motivation, inter-
weaving a striking sense of humor that
lightened the seriousness of his subject
matter. His topics of this period included
Belarmino y Apolonio (Belarmino and Apolo-
Philip II, with his usual deliberate pru-
dence, assembled a large body of troops
on the frontier of Aragon, pursued
extended negotiations with all interested
parties, and then invaded that kingdom.
The Castilians were easily victorious and
the principal supporters of Pérez were
imprisoned or executed. Pérez himself
escaped across the border to France,
where he spent some time intriguing with
local authorities and political exiles from
Aragon and Portugal who had gathered
there. He was the principal instigator of
an incursion by these “renegades” that
was crushed within a matter of weeks by
Philip's forces.
For the remainder of his life Pérez trav-
eled alternately in France and England,
seeking support from Spain's enemies and
producing a series of topics that contrib-
uted to the “Black Legend” (L EYENDA
N EGRA ) of Spanish infamy. He also detailed
his version of various assassinations and
other crimes initiated by the king of Spain.
As the international political environment
changed and the Anglo-Spanish wars came
to an end after the death of both Philip II
and Elizabeth I of England, Pérez was
increasingly marginalized. His venomous
charges and his fantastic schemes for
attacks on Spain were ignored. King Henri
IV of France treated the aging Spaniard
kindly and even sought to secure a pardon
for him during the last years of Pérez's
exile. Spain's leaders would not, however,
regard him as anything but an arch traitor
whose conduct was beyond forgiveness.
Ironically the only remission of guilt that
came from Spain was the Inquisition's
decision that he had been wrongly con-
victed of heresy, and this document arrived
only after Pérez was dead.
 
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