Antonio Noriega Varela

Category: Poet
Birth Date: 19th October 1869 († 27th March 1947)
Birth Place: Mondoñedo (Lugo)
 Curriculum

As he was the nephew of a priest, Noriega Varela studied at the Seminary. He studied Theology for two years but he finally gave it up. In 1895 he got a prize in a literary contest in Mondoñedo with his composition De ruada. He was a close friend of Leiras Pulpeiro and his first poems are quite similar to those Leiras wrote. In 1902 he married Ramona Bello Mariña and had six children. A year after her death he married Dorinda Almansa Vázquez and had seven children more. In 1927, he was nominated as a member of the Galician Academy.

 Work & Activities

Apart from A Virxen e a paisanaxe (1913) which is a selection of popular songs dedicated to the Virgin and Cómo falan os brañegos (1928), which is a collection of proverbs and popular songs, Noriega Varela only wrote a book. It was titled Montañesas in 1904 and 1910 and Do Ermo in 1920, 1929 and 1946 and had several modifications. He modified or suppressed old compositions and added new ones until the final edition in 1946. He described nature in his compositions focussing on the humblest things in the mountain landscape.

 Other Interesting Aspects

The Galician Academy dedicated him ?O Día das Letras Galegas? (The Day of the Galcian Letters) in 1969.