Blog del Instituto Cervantes de Londres

Spanish exiles in Great Britain 2: Manuel Chaves Nogales

Manuel Chaves Nogales (1987-1944), practicó el «Nuevo Periodismo» en el que combinaba elementos periodísticos y otros puramente narrativos. De ellos surgen dos brillantes libros Juan Belmonte, matador de toros y El maestro Juan Martínez que estaba allí. Chaves Nogales tuvo el coraje de denunciar los peligros, el sectarismo y las salvajadas de los dos enemigos de la democracia liberal, el fascismo y el comunismo, en su obra sobre la Guerra Civil española  A sangre y fuego. Al servicio de la República, cuando el Gobierno abandonó Madrid, emprendió con su familia el exilio a Francia, donde colaboró con la prensa francesa y latinoamericana. Fichado por la Gestapo, embarcó rumbo a Inglaterra, donde ejerció la profesión hasta su prematura muerte a causa de una enfermedad en 1944./ Manuel Chaves Nogales (1897-1944) practised «New Journalism», with a blend of journalistic elements and the purely narrative. He creates two outstanding books: Juan Belmonte, matador de toros y El maestro Juan Martínez que estaba allí. Chaves Nogales had the courage to condemn the dangers, the sectarianism and the atrocities of the two enemies of liberal democracy – fascism and comunism- in his book about the Spanish Civil War A sangre y fuego. He believed fervently in the Republic. When the Government abandoned Madrid, he went into exile with his family in France, where he collaborated with the French and Latin American press. Wanted by the Gestapo, he moved to England, where he continued as a journalist until his premature death in 1944 following an illness.

Participantes / Participants: María Isabel Cintas (Universidad de Sevilla), Antonio M. Sánchez (University of Birmingham) & Xavier Pericay (periodista y escritor / journalist and writer).

JUE / THU 2 JUNIO / JUNE

6.30 PM. Auditorio /Auditorium Instituto Cervantes.

Last Wednesday 19th of January the Instituto Cervantes held the first of a lectures series on the Spanish Exiles in Great Britain: «Spanish Exiles in Great Britain 1: Arturo Barea». William Chislett was one of the speakers. Chislett is a former correspondent of The Times of London in Madrid and the Financial Times in Mexico and he is a regular collaborator  for the Elcano Royal Institute’s monthly publication, Spain’s main think tank, which has also published three of his books on Spain.

Given all this we would like to recommend the webpage (and articles) of William Chislett which are really useful for people interested in Spain and its history. We specially recommend the sections «Papers on spain» and «Inside Spain» which are on the online archive of the webpage.

You can visit the webpage here.

WE DON’T do stand-up comedy at the Instituto Cervantes, we don’t even do sit-down comedy very often, but last night’s audience with Chris ‘Driving Over Lemons’ Stewart was the funniest evening LondonSpanish has had for some time.

Chris proved he is just as witty a speaker as he is a writer, and another packed house was soon laughing along as he recounted his latest adventures and embarrassments in the Alpujarras. Like the rest of Andalusia, the area has seen rainfall of epic proportions in the past few months, and Chris told how a flood swept away one of its many ham-curing houses.

Locals gathered downstream hoping to salvage some of the contents as they were washed up – only to find the meat had been smashed away by the torrent and just bones remained. As Chris would later point out, mountain people are a little, um, different.

(Read more…)

Did you miss any of our cultural events? Don’t worry. Now you can catch up with our book presentations, lectures and workshops.

The Instituto Cervantes Library in London [ICLL] is uploading the cultural events held at the Instituto since January 2010, and gradually, we are digitizing the recordings we keep in our archives since 1992.

Here you are the first one of our podcast series. Enjoy!

Spain, for all its recent changes, continues to be a country perceived by foreigners in terms of stereotypes dating back to the early 19th century. I argue that modern chroniclers fail to reflect the reality of a nation whose already diverse traditions now embrace a multitude of European, South American, and African cultures.´ Michael Jacobs  

Paul Preston described Michael Jacobs, as ´the magical realist hispanist’.  He has been travelling around Spain and the Hispanic world since childhood.

His many books on the country include Between Hopes and Memories: A Spanish Journey, and The Factory of Light: Tales from my Andalucian Village, to be published in Spanish by Ediciones B in February 2010. Listen now!