Benjamín Jarnés

Born in Codo, Aragón, in 1888, he spent about a decade in the army before leaving military life in 1920 and settling in Madrid. From there he began building a literary career, publishing his first novel, Mosén Pedro, in 1924.

His reputation took hold with El profesor inútil in 1926, followed by works such as El convidado de papel and Teoría del zumbel. He is generally associated with Spain’s avant-garde prose and is remembered not only as a novelist, but also as a biographer, essayist, critic, and translator.

After the Spanish Civil War, he went into exile in Mexico. He later returned to Spain and died in Madrid in 1949. Today he is often valued for the elegance, intelligence, and experimental spirit he brought to Spanish prose between the wars.