Miguel de Unamuno

Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) was born in Bilbao, in the Basque Country, and became one of the leading Spanish thinkers of his time. He worked as a poet, philosopher, essayist, novelist and playwright, and he is often linked with the Generation of '98, though the sources of that link are debated. He wrote mainly in Spanish, and he was also interested in Basque.

In 1891 he became a Greek professor at the University of Salamanca, and he served as its rector from 1900 to 1924 and again from 1930 to 1936. His criticism of the dictator Primo de Rivera led to his removal in 1924 and to exile, first on Fuerteventura and then in France, until 1930. His major philosophical essay is Tragic Sense of Life (1913), and his best-known novels include Abel Sánchez (1917) and Mist (1914), which he helped to make a landmark of Spanish Modernism. He died in Salamanca on 31 December 1936, and his houses there and on Fuerteventura are now museums.

Reading Miguel de Unamuno to learn Spanish

Unamuno wrote in Spanish in the early twentieth century, and he moved freely between essay, novel, poetry and theatre. That mix suggests a reflective, thoughtful voice, so expect some abstract vocabulary and ideas that ask for patience. On Paralelo you can read the Spanish with the English beside it, aligned phrase by phrase, which helps when a passage grows dense. The book to open is Andanzas y visiones españolas, known in English as Wanderings and Visions of Spain. It takes about 350 minutes to read, so approach it in short sittings, using the translation to check meaning as you go.