Rafael Alberti

Rafael Alberti (1902–1999) was a Spanish poet of the Generation of '27, born in El Puerto de Santa María, who began as a painter before gaining fame with his poetry, winning the National Poetry Award for Marinero en tierra (1925). Following a personal crisis, he produced his masterpiece Sobre los ángeles (1929), later embraced Marxism, supported the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War, and lived in exile in Argentina and Italy until returning to Spain in 1977, where he received the Premio Cervantes among other honors.