JARDIEL PONCELA: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS AND PHRASES - BIOLOGY - 2025

Enrique Jardiel Poncela (1901-1952) was a Spanish writer, playwright and novelist. His literary works were framed within the avant-garde movement, he also gave a twist to the comedy of his time, and went on to make it more incoherent and at the same time wiser.

Jardiel Poncela's work was abundant, characterized by being innovative in all its forms. He used precise language, and also developed cartoonish characters, with brilliant qualities, with a high degree of humor from the fictitious and impossible.

Jardiel Poncela. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

However, Poncela's work as a writer was often attacked and criticized due to its humorous and ironic content. The fact that it was something new made its understanding difficult. Over the years his work continues to be recognized, and remains in force through different performances.

Biography

Birth and family

Enrique was born on October 15, 1901 in Madrid, into a cultured and traditional family. His parents were the journalist and mathematician Enrique Jardiel Agustín and the painter Marcelina Poncela Hontoria. The writer had three sisters: Rosario, Angelina and Aurora, who died shortly after birth; he was the youngest.

Educational training

Jardiel Poncela's education, as well as that of her sisters, was in charge of her mother, books and art were part of her environment. At the age of four she began to study at the Instituto de Libre Enseñanza, then, in 1908, she continued them at the French Lyceum of the French Alliance.

Enrique learned to draw when he was very young, however, he used to save his works to prevent his mother from seeing them, he was too strict. The Prado Museum and the Congress of Deputies were places that he visited frequently and influenced his formation.

In 1912, at the age of eleven, the writer began high school studies at the School of the Piarist Fathers of San Antonio de Abad. It was in the institution's magazine where he had the opportunity to publish some of his writings. It is important to note that Poncela was not a brilliant student, but he was passionate about letters.

In 1917 his mother's health began to deteriorate and she passed away, the young man was left dejected. However, he continued his academic training at the San Isidro Institute, where he studied preparatory studies in philosophy and letters. Around that time he made friends with the playwright José López Rubio, and worked as a journalist.

First steps as a formal writer

Although Jardiel Poncela began to write as a child, at the age of eighteen he began to formally break through. In 1919 he published in printed media such as La Correspondencia de España, La Nueva Humanidad and Los Mondays from El Imparcial.

In 1921 he began working as an editor for the newspaper La Acción. The following year one of the most important humorous magazines of his time, Buen Humor, allowed him to publish his texts. It was a creative period and a lot of literary production, he also began a friendship with the writer Gómez de la Serna.

Dedication to literature and love relationship

Jardiel Poncela decided in 1923 to dedicate himself entirely to literature. In that year, The Man whom Alejandra loved and Hell came to light. Also during that time she frequently attended the literary gatherings of the cafes, especially those of El Pombo, directed by Ramón Gómez de la Serna.

The writer also had time for love, in 1926 he began to live with Josefina Peñalver, a divorced mother. During that year he alternated his love life with the literary one. However, the following year the relationship came to an end due to serious financial problems.

First released comedy

After his financial problems, Jardiel began to write what was his first play of the comedy genre, entitled A Spring Night Without Sleep. He premiered it on May 28, 1927 at the Lara Theater; the reception of the public was a total success.

Door of the birthplace of Jardiel Poncela. Source: Javier Mediavilla Ezquibela, via Wikimedia Commons

The following year, in 1928, his daughter Evangelina was born, a product of the relationship he had with Josefina Peñalver. The arrival of her daughter became a light of love and hope; the bond between father and daughter was always close. Years later she became one of the writers of her father's life.

A time of great productions

Jardiel wrote his works on the tables of the cafes he frequented; From them came out, in 1929, his satirical novel Amor se written sin hache. A year later, Wait for me in Siberia, my life was published; and in 1931 he published But… Were there ever eleven thousand virgins?

In 1932 he published his last novel, La tournée de Dios, and the play You Have Eyes of a Fatal Woman was premiered in Valencia. That same year she went to Hollywood, United States, where she worked on the Spanish adaptation of some film productions on the Fox network.

Between Spain, Paris and Hollywood again

After spending a year in the United States, Jardiel returned to Spain in 1933, took to the stage of Madrid the work You have eyes of a fatal woman. Then he went to Paris to do some work for Fox, and in 1934 Three comedies in a single essay was published and Angelina and the honor of her brigadier premiered.

The entrance to Hollywood meant a considerable leap for his work and his name towards international recognition. Jardiel penetrated the Fox board with his insight and talent.

Later, in mid-1934, he settled for almost a year again in Hollywood, where he made some productions. There he began a relationship with an actress named Carmen Sánchez Labajos, who became his life partner and mother of his second daughter, María Luz.

Years of war and postwar

During this period of his life, external circumstances did not prevent the growth and expansion of the writer, on the contrary, it seems that they expanded his creative power. He made important trips, and his hand did not stop writing.

Prior to the Spanish Civil War of 1936, Poncela brought comedies such as Un adultery decent and The Five Warnings from Satan to the theater. When the conflict broke out, he was arrested on charges of helping politician Rafael Salazar Alonso hide in his home.

In 1937 the writer left Spain, first to France and then to Argentina. After a year he returned to Spain and stayed in the town of San Sebastián. In 1939 he returned to Madrid, with the opportunity to premiere Carlo Monte in Monte Carlo and A Round-Trip Husband.

Last years of production and death

Jardiel had a fruitful season of theatrical production during the early 1940s. However, in 1944 he began to go through a severe economic crisis, to which was added the death of his father.

As a result of everything that happened, the writer entered a strong existential crisis that led to a deterioration in his health. However, despite the circumstances, Jardiel Poncela continued to write. Between 1945 and 1946 he premiered several works, highlighting Water, Oil and Gasoline.

Image of the premiere of the work Ojos de mujer fatal. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

Unfortunately at that time he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, and his life went to misery and loneliness. He died on February 18, 1952 in Madrid, when he was barely fifty years old.

Style

Jardiel Poncela's style was characterized by being unique, especially in its ability to create unusual circumstances, with irony and a precise and direct language, sometimes grotesque and always surprising. In addition, he knew how to unify the extraordinary with the vivacious and cunning. This way of handling the letters guaranteed him a place in history.

His work was framed within the theater of the absurd, that is, a comedy without meaning and with situations difficult to believe. His talent for humor led him to develop intelligent dialogues, he also carefully handled the elements of wonder and collusion.

If there is something that marked the creation of the writer Jardiel Poncela, it was the way of coping and intertwining his creativity with his talent for writing. His explosive imagination was the spearhead in each manuscript, the spark that allowed his work to reach the pinnacle, and remain a reference even after his death.

Plays

Theater

- The bonfire (1925).

- The night of the Metro (1925).

- Achanta that suits you (1925).

- A room is rented (1925).

- The Wenceslas trick (1926).

- What a Columbus! (1926).

- Let's go to Romea! (1926).

- Fernando the saint (1926).

- Do not blame anyone for my death (1926).

- A spring night without sleep (1927).

- The corpse of Mr. García (1930).

- You have the eyes of a fatal woman (1932).

- Angelina or the honor of a brigadier or Angelina or a drama in 1880 (1934).

- A decent adultery (1935).

- The five warnings of Satan (1935).

- Intimacies of Hollywood (1935).

- The woman and the automobile (1935).

Image of the premiere of the play Four hearts with brake. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

- Dying is a mistake (1935. Later renamed: Four hearts with brake and reverse gear).

- Carlo Monte in Monte Carlo (1939).

- A back and forth husband (1939).

- Eloísa is under an almond tree (1940).

- Thieves are honest people (1941).

- Love only lasts 2,000 meters (1941).

- Mother, the father drama (1941).

- It is dangerous to look outside (1942).

- The inhabitants of the uninhabited house (1942).

- White on the outside and Pink on the inside (1943). The seven lives of the cat (1943).

- At six o'clock on the corner of the boulevard (1943).

- You and I are three (1945).

- The Wandering Lady's Handkerchief (1945).

- The love of the cat and the dog (1945).

- Water, oil and gasoline (1945).

- The weaker sex has done gymnastics (1946).

- The best blondes are with potatoes (1947).

- The hidden tigers in the bedroom (1949).

Novel

- Love is writes without ax (1928).

- Wait for me in Siberia, my life (1929).

- But… were there ever eleven thousand virgins? (1931).

- La tournée de Dios (1932).

Short novel

- The victory of Samothrace (1919).

- The blonde lady (1920).

- The case of Sir Horacio Wilkins (1922).

- The astral plane (1922).

- Adventures of Torthas and Pan Pin Tao (1922).

- The mystery of the black triangle (1922).

- The dead voice (1922).

- The frightening secret of Máximo Marville (1922). Two white hands (1922).

- The ice man (1922).

- A strange adventure (1922).

- The telephone notice (1922).

- The man whom Alejandra loved (1924).

- The girl with hallucinations (1924).

- A lightness (1925).

- The defenses of the brain (1925).

- The fragrant simplicity (1925).

- Lucrecia and Messalina (1925).

- The Passed Door (1926).

- The Olympiad of Beautiful Views (1926).

- The 38 and a half murders at Hull Castle (1936).

- The shipwreck of the "Mistinguette" (1938).

- Ten minutes before midnight (1939).

Test

- Three comedies with a single essay (1933).

- Forty-nine characters who found their actor (1936).

- Two farces and an operetta (1939).

- A protested letter and two letters in sight (1942).

- Three projectiles of the 42 (1944).

- Water, oil and gasoline and two other explosive mixtures (1946).

- From "Blanca" to "Gato" passing through the "Bulevar" (1946).

- The theater seen with my own glasses. Theatrical Poetics (2016).

- Releases and pitched battles (2016).

Film scripts

- It's my name (1927).

- A prisoner has escaped (1931).

- Six hours to live (1932).

- The king of the gypsies (1932).

- The forbidden melody (1932).

- The express and the express (1933).

- The love of a secretary (1933).

- When firefighters love (1933).

- Pursued (1934).

- Insure your wife (1934).

- Angelina or the honor of a brigadier (1934).

- Margarita, Armando and their father (1937).

- An advertisement and five letters (1938).

- El fakir Rodríguez (1938).

- Mauricio or a victim of vice (1940).

- Love is a microbe (1944).

Short Narrative

- Lollipops of Havana (1927).

- Readings for illiterates (1927).

- Minimum maximums (1937).

- The convalescent book (1938).

- New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939).

- Excess baggage (1943).

- 5 kilos of things (1956).

Phrases said by Poncela

- "He who does not dare to be intelligent becomes a politician."

- “In human life only a few dreams come true; the vast majority of dreams snore ”.

- "When the heart has to decide, it is better for the head to decide."

- "Friendship, like the universal flood, is like a phenomenon that everyone talks about, but that nobody has seen with their eyes."

- “The man who laughs at everything is that he despises everything. The woman who laughs at everything is that she knows she has beautiful teeth ”.

- "Sincerity is the passport to rudeness."

- "Dictatorship: government system in which what is not prohibited is mandatory."

- "Politicians are like neighborhood cinemas, first they make you enter and then they change the program."

- "The end of religion, morality, politics, art, has not been for forty centuries more than to hide the truth from the eyes of fools."

- "Modesty is a solid that only dissolves in alcohol or money."

References

1. Enrique Jardiel Poncela. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org
2. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Enrique Jardiel Poncela. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com
3. Jardiel Poncela, Enrique. (1996-2019). Spain: Escritores.org. Recovered from: writers.org
4. Enrique Jardiel Poncela. (2018). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu
5. Enrique Jardiel Poncela. (2019). Spain: Spain is Culture. Recovered from: españaescultura.es