Until 3 September, the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain is presenting the exhibition El exilio intelectual español en Puerto Rico (Spanish intellectual exile in Puerto Rico), organised by Acción Cultural Española, the Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with Parliament and Democratic Memory and the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain, with the collaboration of the Government of Puerto Rico.
South America was one of the main destinations for the many Spanish exiles who left the country because of Franco’s dictatorship. Despite its size, Puerto Rico and its capital, San Juan, were the destination of a group of very prominent figures, and their presence on the island had an intense impact on cultural and intellectual life.
The exhibition reconstructs the broad context of Spanish intellectual exile in Puerto Rico, focusing on the daily cultural life of these exiles (their projects, their publications, their collaborations and friendships). Among the Spanish intellectuals and artists who made Puerto Rico their home and who participated intensely in the socio-cultural life of the island are: Juan Ramón Jiménez (in the photo) and Zenobia Camprubí, Pau Casals, Pedro Salinas, María Zambrano, Jorge Guillén, Francisco Ayala, Federico de Onís and Aurora de Albornoz.
The exhibition takes as its guiding thread the story of Juan Ramón and Zenobia’s love and intellectual work, from the beginning of their courtship in pre-Civil War Spain to the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Juan Ramón and their death in San Juan de Puerto Rico.
