One of the greatest representatives of Spanish literature is undoubtedly Ana Maria Matute, a woman who despite her literary silence that lasted many years has managed to position herself and be one of the first contemporary writers.
Ana María Matute was born a July 26, 1926 in the bosom of a wealthy family, his father was the owner of a well-known umbrella factory and his mother a society lady who dedicated herself to her children and the house. Ana María lived at the time of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and the civil war, times when women had the worst of it.
She was a shy and introverted girl, until she was ten years old she was stuttered and sickly. When he was five years old he became ill with a kidney infection and the time he spent in bed he dedicated to writing his first story, later when he was eight he became ill again and had to go live for a time with his grandparents in Mansilla de la Sierra, here he wrote his second work where he makes a detailed analysis of the places that make a difference. Apparently his stay in this town marked his life a lot, since in all his works the geography and customs of these places in the mountains of Spain are reflected.
His first story was “The boy next door” and his novel Los Abel, written in 1948, was a semifinalist for the Nadal award, the play small theater not published until 1954 won the Planeta award. By 1952 she married the also writer Eugenio de GoicocheaAfter two years, her first son Juan Pablo was born, from whom she had to separate when she was only 8 years old, when she divorced her husband and it was he who was given custody of the minor as was customary in those times.
Already with a new marriage and with the possession of her son again, the famous writer entered a stage of depression and stopped writing for almost twenty years, perhaps dedicated to her family or to the fear of failing again in the family sphere. By 1983 that silence was broken with his work “Just one bare foot”, a novel that won the national prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature.
Among her main achievements in what corresponds to literature, Ana María Matute occupies the K chair of the Royal Spanish Academy and is one of the few women who has been awarded the Cervantes Prize. There is already an award in her honor: Ana María Matute Award for Women’s Narrative.