Rosalia De Castro

Vocation

Galician romanticist writer and poet. Writing in the Galician language, after the 'Séculos Escuros' (lit. Dark Centuries), she became an important figure of the Galician romantic movement, known today as the 'Rexurdimento' ("renaissance"). Her poetry is marked by 'saudade,' an almost ineffable combination of nostalgia, longing and melancholy. The date she published her first collection of poetry in Galician, 'Cantares gallegos (gl)' ("Galician Songs"), 17 May 1863, is commemorated every year as the Día das Letras Galegas ("Galician Literature Day"), an official holiday of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, and has been dedicated to an important writer in the Galician language since 1963. Relative poverty and sadness marked her life, although she had a strong sense of commitment to the poor and to the defenseless. She was a strong opponent of abuse of authority and defender of women's rights. She suffered from cancer of the womb and died of this illness on 15 July 1885, aged 48, in Padrón, Galicia, Spain. Her image appeared on the 500 peseta Spanish banknote. Link to Wikipedia biography