Antón Santamarina Delgado

Birth Date: 16th November 1928
Birth Place: Melilla
 Curriculum

Owing to his father’s military career, he and his family moved to Axdir in Rif. That’s why he uses the Arabian-Galician pseudonym Alí ben Omar. In 1933 they came back to A Coruña. The children he played with called him “little moor” when they did not understand some expressions he brought from his plays in chelha with the children of his first childhood in Morocco.
In 1936 his father stayed in prison for two long years as we did not submit to the military rebellion. To save some money at home, he moved to Guitiriz with his grandparents. This put him in contact with Galician language and all the positive things throughout his life. When his father went out of prison, he returned to A Coruña and studied Secondary Education from 1940 to 1947. In 1948 he graduated in Teaching but he devoted himself to private lessons for students of Secondary Education.
In June 1953 he left to Buenos Aires (his elder sister had already emigrated in 1948). The rest of the family emigrated in 1954 and 1955. After the democracy’s revival, his father saw from exile his rights and military merits valid being promoted to commander.

 Work & Activities

He published his first three articles in ADEMAR: Castellano y gallego oriundos del latín, Galicia en la Independencia and Cachamuíña, adiantadores.
In Buenos Aires he put up at a boarding house known as A casa da Troia because most of the guests were from A Coruña. He was the first president of Brétemas e Raiolas, president and foundation member of Mocedades galeguistas, president of the ‘Centro Provincial Coruñés’; ‘Ateneo Curros Enríquez’ and the Federation of Galician Societies. He also taught Galician language in this institution in 1978 and 1979; member of the board of directors of ‘Amigos do Idioma’ and secretary of intersocietary relations of ‘Juventud democrática ibérica’. He wrote articles for ‘Nueva generación española’ and was a member of A.G.U.E.A. He was the secretary of relations of the ‘Junta Coordinadora Democrática Gallega’ in favour of the preautonomy of Galicia.
He was correspondent of EFE in Buenos Aires for La Región 'internacional', edición América. He collaborated in newspapers and magazines of the Galician community in Montevideo: Galician supplement of 'El diario español’ and Finisterre (Centro Coruñés); in Río de Janeiro: Bulletin of the Casa de Galicia and in Buenos Aires: ‘Mundo Gallego’, ‘Correo de Galicia’, ‘Galicia’, 'O castro de Breogán', ‘Lugo’ (Centro Lucense), ‘Orzán’ (Centro Coruñés), ‘Brétemas e Raiolas’, ‘Adiante’, ‘Opinión Gallega’ (Centro Ourensán), ‘Galicia Emigrante’, ‘El Ideal Gallego’ and ‘La Voz de Nueva Pompeya’. He also wrote "Para unha terra apremida", “Galiza estrela”, “Trisquele”, ‘O gatiño da 'miss' e outros contos’, ‘Aporte galega ao fenómeno gaucho’ and a poetry book, where he confesses his pesimism about Earth. He translated "Nos pagos de Huinca-Loo" by Xavier Alcalá into the native language of Argentina with the title 'Cristiano Muerto'.

 Other Interesting Aspects

AGAL nominated him as ‘honourable member’ in 1983 for his extraordinary work in Buenos Aires. He collaborated in the bulletin of ‘Xermolos Cultural Association’ (Guitiriz) and in ‘Cataventos’, supplement of ‘El Ideal Gallego’. He gave the lecture ‘El tango, ese desconocido’ and in 1998 the Galician Centre in Andorra invited him to the commemoration of the "Día das Letras".