José María Posada

José María Posada Pereira (Vigo, Spain 1817 - Pontevedra, Spain 1886), a bilingual poet and journalist, in both Spanish and Galician.

He studied humanities and theology, and finally law at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, graduating in 1845. In 1840 he founded an academy of arts and literature in Santiago, bringing together the best in the region. Posada founded "La Aurora de Galicia", a magazine of literature, science, and art, in 1845. He lived in Madrid between 1851 and 1852, studying painting. Moving to Vigo, he established "El Faro de Vigo" (1852), the oldest newspaper in Spain (still printed today), in which appeared much of his written work. While in Vigo, using the pen name "Don Lucas", Posada regularly published humorous writings as well as poetry in the Galician language and "legends" or "leyenda". He wrote a beautiful book of memories, "Un paseo de Vigo a Bayona" ["A Stroll from Vigo to Bayonne"] (1866). His collected works of poetry are in "Poesías Selectas" ["Selected Poetry"] (1888), vol. 16 of the "Biblioteca Gallega" ["Galician Library"] . Some of these are cheerful, while others are inspirational.

Little by little, Posada yielded to melancholy, and to "la saudade", a profound sense of sadness, as in "Carta a Ampariño" ["A Letter to Ampariño"] . His "legends" or "leyenda", inspired by the traditional romances, are highlighted by "Rosalida" (which was influenced by the "Romance del Conde Olinos", a children's song) and "La Bella Infanta" ["The Beautiful Infant"] .

References

Ruiz, Ricardo Navas. 1982. El Romanticismo Español. Cátedra, Madrid. 3rd ed.

ee also

*Literatura española del Romanticismo: Romanticism in the Spanish literary framework.

*Escritores españoles del Romanticismo: List of romantic authors.
*Romanticismo: An overview of the movement.
*Literatura de España: The evolution of Spanish literature.