Famous Spanish People

What is a nation without its people? People make the heritage, culture and fame of the nation and make it worth mentioning. So now when I am writing about the famous Spanish people there are so many names that are coming to my mind and actually there are so many names that have contributed to the history of the country. So here I will attempt to write about few Spaniards who have left this indelible mark not only on the Spanish history but also World History.

Lets start with the section of artists that have names like Salvador Dali, Francisco Goya, El Greco, Joan Miro but among all these one name that is considerably and comparatively more popular is Pablo Picasso.

Pablo Picasso

Picasso was born on October 25th in the year 1881 in Malaga. His becoming a painter seems to be a natural choice since his father was also a painter who chose to paint birds and was a Professor of Arts and a curator. Thus Picasso received his first formal training in painting from his father. Picasso moved to Paris in 1900 and lived in extreme poverty and desperation. He had to burn his paintings to keep himself warm. In the year 1901 he founded the magazine called Arte Joven, the first edition of which was completely illustrated by the great painter and philosopher himself. Picasso acquired quite a lot of fame and name by the end of his life. His personal and professional life both hit the headlines of the leading dailies and that was well deserved. Picasso was a little affected by the Nazi attacks, who didn’t appreciate his art yet he kept doing his work with undaunted courage, though secretly. He was politically quite indifferent; he remained absolutely neutral during World War II as well as the Spanish Civil War. He made it very clear that he was against any kind of violence. Therefore he did attend the French Communist Party but went to this International Peace Conference in Poland in 1944. He was the one who introduced the idea of Cubism in the world of art and sculpture, according to which the geometric shapes replaced the natural shape of things. Spain is proud of Picasso and so is the whole of the world.

Francisco Franco

Then there are politicians who held the reins of the Spanish Government and tried to make Spain a better place for its citizens wherein they could live with their self-respect and dignity. There are many names like Juan Prim, Antonio Canovas del Castillo, Josep Borell, Jose Maria Aznar and many who are worth mentioning. Out of all the names that I would like to write about is Francisco Franco who ruled Spain till his death starting from 1939. Franco was a dictator and went on to become the Head of the State of Nationalist Spain. He was successful military leader and was a General. He took over the authority during the Spanish Civil War, which was the phase extreme violence and disorder. There was mass upheaval against the church and there was much chaos and tumult. After the Spanish war was over, he dissolved the Spanish Parliament and this time he decided to govern the state himself. He received special support from Hitler yet tried to maintain a neutral stance in World War II. Spanish soldiers did assist the Nazis to occupy Russia. He was strong leader but his legacy gave rise to many controversies. His strength and determination was required to establish in the nation and he did it on time.

Spain has given to the world musicians like Issac Albeinz, Pau Casals, Manuel de Falla and many such names. There are Spanish singers like Miguel Bose, Jose Carreras and the very modern and contemporary Enrique Iglesias. There is Sergio Garcia, Carlos Moya and many like these people who are going out in the field of sports and are adding to the already rich history of Spain. There were, rather there are so many Spaniards all over the world and in so many different fields of work that even mentioning all of them would require nothing less than a proper book. I have tried in my small way to find some information about some of the interesting and famous people an Spain and share it with you.