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María Zambrano [1904-1991] De la razón cívica a la razón poética

1981-1991

RECOGNITION AND RETURN TO SPAIN (Madrid, 1980-1991)


RECOGNITION AND RETURN TO SPAIN (Madrid, 1980-1991)

The first recognition that Zambrano received in Spain came from José Luis Abellán, José Ángel Valente, and José Luis Aranguren who published the article “Los sueños de María Zambrano " (“María Zambrano's Dreams,”) in the Revista de Occidente (1966).
However, her recognition by the authorities did not come until 1980, when she was named daughter emeritus of the Principality of Asturias, sponsored by the Asturian immigrants in Geneva.

In 1981, she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for Communications and Humanities and was named daughter emeritus by the municipality of Vélez-Málaga, whose mayor, Juan Gámez, visited her in Geneva accompanied by the poet and painter Joaquín Lobato. After a lecture delivered by Valente in the series dedicated to the philosopher at the Colegio Mayor San Juan Evangelista in Madrid, Zambrano’s voice was heard on tape in Spain for the first time since her departure into exile.

From then on, she received numerous tributes and accolades and was interviewed by the Spanish media. In an interview that she granted to José Miguel Ullán, Zambrano (who wrote in Los bienaventurados: " From exile into exile, in each of them the exiled person is dying, lost and uprooted, ") she wondered: "Go back to Spain? All in God’s good time”.

In 1982 the University of Malaga named her Doctor honoris causa; one of the highschools of Leganés, a town near Madrid, was christened with her name, and the Philosophy Association of Seville organized a series of lectures entitled "María Zambrano or metaphysics recovered.” In 1983, she was awarded the Pablo Iglesias Prize and the first seminar on the thought of Maria Zambrano was held in Almagro (Ciudad Real).

In 1984 Jesús Moreno Sanz traveled to Switzerland to accompany María back to Spain. Jaime Salinas, Pedro Salinas’ son and Director General del Libro, officially welcomed her back at Barajas airport.

Despite her declining health, María continued her intellectual activity in Spain: she sorted out her papers and notes, reviewed, edited and rewrote some of her writings, and published articles with the help of some collaborators.  In 1985 she was named daughter emeritus of Andalusia, visited the Residencia de Estudiantes and maintained a constant intellectual activity until 1986.

She published De la aurora (1986), Notas de un método (1989), Los bienaventurados (1990) and finished Los sueños y el tiempo, which will be published posthumously.

In 1987, the Fundación Cultural Privada María Zambrano was established in Vélez-Málaga to house her archives and library.
In 1988, she became the first woman to be honored with the Premio Cervantes.

She died on February 6, 1991, in Madrid.  As per her wishes, a verse from the Song of Songs was carved on her tombstone: "Surge amica mea et veni.”

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