Jaime Gil de Biedma
Jaime Gil de Biedma was a prominent Spanish poet born into a wealthy family in Barcelona in 1929. His life was significantly impacted by the Spanish Civil War, which prompted his family to flee their home. Initially pursuing law at the University of Barcelona, he transitioned through military service and a brief period within the Catholic Church before fully embracing literature. In 1953, he moved to Oxford to study literature, further solidifying his commitment to poetry.
After returning to Spain, Gil de Biedma attempted a career in diplomacy but was unsuccessful, leading him to work briefly in a tobacco company. His health declined due to tuberculosis, which forced him to recuperate at his family estate, a period he utilized to produce notable poetry and literary criticism. He became involved with the Conversaciónes Poeticas in Majorca, producing his influential work, "Moralidades," in 1966. His subsequent collection, "Poemas póstumos," emerged from a mid-life crisis, and he continued to write until his death from AIDS in 1990. Gil de Biedma is celebrated as one of the most significant poets of his generation, known for his sophistication and boldness in publishing erotic verses during a repressive era under Francisco Franco's regime.
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Subject Terms
Jaime Gil de Biedma
Poet
- Born: 1929
- Birthplace: Barcelona, Spain
- Died: January 8, 1990
- Place of death: Barcelona, Spain
Biography
Born into a family of wealthy businessmen, Jaime Gil de Biedma, like so many of his countrymen, had his life torn asunder by the Spanish civil war, which forced him and his parents to flee their home in Barcelona. As he reached maturity, Gil de Biedma had difficulty finding his niche, leaving his law studies at the University of Barcelona for military service, then abandoning both—as well as the Catholic Church—for literature. He did in fact become a lawyer, but as he grew increasingly absorbed in poetry, any interest he might have had in law evaporated, and in 1953, he left to study literature at Oxford University.
Returning to Spain, he briefly considered a career in the diplomatic corps but failed the screening examination. He left Spain once more, taking up temporary residence in Paris before returning to his homeland in 1955, when he took a job with a tobacco company. That occupation, too, was short lived; after contracting tuberculosis, Gil de Biedma was obliged to spend several years recuperating at his family’s estate. He put this time to good use, however, and turned out important poems as well as significant literary criticism. In 1959 he became involved with a group of writers known as the Conversaciónes Poeticas that met on the island of Majorca. He chronicled his experiences there in what many regard as his most-significant work, the 1966 book of poems, Moralidades, 1959-1964. His next work, Poemas póstumos (1968), grew out of a mid-life crisis. Afterward, his production slowed considerably, and in 1990 he succumbed to the effects of AIDS. For many, he remains the best poet of his generation, one whose sophistication, worldliness, and willingness to defy the government censors (he was one of the only poets of his day to publish erotic verse) who held sway during Francisco Franco’s repressive reign.