Pedro Garfias

Who was Pedro Garfias?

Pedro Garfias was a Spanish poet.

Garfias was born in Salamanca, Spain, but spent his childhood and youth in the Andalusian cities of Seville and Córdoba. In 1918 he moved to Madrid in order to study Law at University; however, he did not finish these studies. That year, Pedro Garfias, along with the young poets Guillermo de Torre, César A. Comet and José Rivas Panedas wrote the first Manifiesto Ultraísta. In the 20's, along with other poets, he founded the poetry magazines Horizonte and Tableros.

Pedro Garfias was one of the Spanish poets of the Generation of 1927 who was more enthusiastic regarding all the avant-garde movements, as Ultraism. His first book, El Ala del Sur was published in Seville in 1926. He joined the Partido Comunista de España when the Spanish Second Republic arrived. In 1938, when the Spanish Civil War was already in its second year, he was given the National Award of Literature for Poesías de la Guerra Civil Española. One of his more popular poems is Asturias, that was made into a song by the Spanish singer Víctor Manuel.

He was forced into exile during the Spanish Civil War, along with other artists, writers, and intellectuals.