Origins & Early Life

Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquess of Iria Flavia (Spanish: [kamilo xoˈse ˈθela]; 11 May 1916 – 17 January 2002) was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement. He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature "for a rich and intensive prose, which with restrained compassion forms a challenging vision of man's vulnerability". Camilo José Cela was born in the rural parish of Iria Flavia, in Padrón, A Coruña, Spain, on 11 May 1916. He was the oldest child of nine.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His father, Camilo Crisanto Cela y Fernández, was Galician. His mother, Camila Emanuela Trulock y Bertorini, was a Galician of English and Italian ancestry. The family was upper-middle-class and Cela described his childhood as being "so happy it was hard to grow up." He lived with his family in Vigo from 1921 to 1925, when they moved to Madrid. There, Cela studied at a Piarist school. In 1931 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and admitted to the sanatorium of Guadarrama, where he took advantage of his free time to work on his novel Pabellón de reposo.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

While recovering from the illness Cela began intensively reading works by José...

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