MARÍA ZAMBRANO: BIOGRAPHY, PHILOSOPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

María Zambrano Alarcón (1904-1991) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. Her work was extensive, and was based on deep thought and the civic responsibility that characterized it. However, in her country she did not have the necessary support to make herself known at the right time.

Zambrano's work was defined as being philosophical, oriented towards the search for the divine, and what the soul keeps. It was also related to the human questioning about the origin of things, and the need it has to get an answer.

Maria Zambrano. Source: María Zambrano Foundation, via Wikimedia Commons

María Zambrano suffered the consequences of exile. However, it was outside her country where she was recognized, and her work as a writer and philosopher began to be valued. She was a woman faithful to her thoughts and ideals, and always close to the mystical, to the divine.

Biography

Birth and family

María was born on April 22, 1904 in Malaga. She was the daughter of teachers; her parents were Blas Zambrano García de Carabante and Araceli Alarcón Delgado. Zambrano was a girl who had constant misfortunes with her health, a situation that accompanied her all her life. She had a sister seven years younger.

Little María lived a season in Andalusia, specifically in the town of Bélmez de la Moraleda, with her grandfather on her mother's side. In 1908 she went with her family to live in Madrid, a year later her father got a job in Segovia, and later they all went to live there.

Education of María Zambrano

Zambrano lived his adolescence in Segovia. In 1913 she began high school studies, being one of the two privileged girls who attended classes among a nucleus made up of men. That was the time of her first love and of her contact with the literary world.

In 1921 when he was seventeen years old, the Zambrano Alarcón family went back to Madrid. There the young María began her studies of philosophy and letters at the Central University. At that time she was a student of prestigious men of letters, and met the writer José Ortega y Gasset.

The university life of the future philosopher was quite eventful. At the beginning of the specialization, in 1928, she was part of the student organization Federación Universitaria Escolar, and also collaborated in the newspaper El Liberal. In addition, she was one of the founders of the League of Social Education, and served as a teacher.

The doctoral work she was doing, entitled The salvation of the individual in Spinoza, was left unfinished for health reasons that left her in bed for a long period. In 1931 she was an assistant professor of metaphysics at her university, and participated in political activities.

Political participation

María Zambrano always showed marked leadership, which brought her closer to political life. She was a member of the Republican-Socialist Alliance, and participated in various events nationwide. In addition, it was part of the proclamation of the Second Republic.

The politician Luís Jiménez de Asúa invited her to participate as a candidate for deputy for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), but she rejected it. Later she learned that politics could be made through study and the expression of thought.

There was an episode that separated her from the politics of partisan militancy; having signed the creation of the Spanish Front, after her closeness with Gasset, she considered it a huge mistake. From that moment on, she directed her interest in politics to another direction.

Zambrano loves

In the teenage years, when María lived in Segovia, she fell in love for the first time, and she did so with her cousin Miguel Pizarro. However, the family took sides so that the relationship did not go any further, and the young man had to go to Japan to teach Spanish.

Years later she met the politician and intellectual Alfonso Rodríguez Aldave, whom she married on September 14, 1936. The husband's diplomatic activity led them to live for a time in Chile, due to the fact that he held the position of secretary of the Spanish embassy in That country.

Zambrano in exile

Almost three years after the Civil War began in Spain, María Zambrano left the country in the company of her mother and sister. Her father had already passed away. The women left for Paris where the philosopher's husband was waiting for them.

At that time she dedicated herself to carrying out some literary activities, and accompanying her husband in other political tasks. She made short stays in the United States and Mexico, and then settled for a time in the Aztec country as a philosophy professor at the University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo.

When he was in Morelia, he published two of his renowned works: Thought and Poetry in Spanish Life, and Philosophy and Poetry. In addition, she collaborated in several highly recognized magazines throughout Latin America, which allowed her to achieve renown.

Caribbean travel

In 1940 she traveled with her husband to Havana, where she worked as a professor at the Institute of Higher Studies in Scientific Research. For a time she went to and from Puerto Rico, a country where she gave some courses and conferences, and where she went to live for two years, between 1943 and 1945.

Zambrano was notified in 1946 of her mother's serious health situation, so she traveled to Paris, but when she arrived it was too late. It was there that she met and befriended some intellectuals like Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

The period from 1949 to 1953 Zambrano passed between Mexico, Havana and Europe, specifically Italy and Paris. There was an attempted expulsion from Italy after a complaint that a neighbor made about the cats that she and her sister Araceli had in the place where they resided. The President stopped the order to exit.

Exile was a difficult time for María, but it was also the period of greatest growth in her work, and in which she obtained the greatest recognition. It was the stage in which she published The Creative Dream, Spain Dream and Truth, and La fuga de Antígona. In 1972 she lost her sister.

Old age and disease began to wreak havoc on his life. Alone and divorced, she moved from Italy to Geneva. Still in exile, in 1981 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. On November 20, 1984 she returned to her country.

Final time of María Zambrano

Once Zambrano returned to Spain, he gradually reincorporated into social life. He took small walks and attended some recitals and concerts. Her longtime friends came to visit her frequently. In time she already had an active intellectual life.

In 1985 she received the honor of being named Favorite Daughter of Andalusia. A year later her book Paths came to light. Later he worked on the publication of The Agony of Europe, Notes of a method, The confession and Person and democracy.

Between 1987 and 1988 he received the recognition of Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Malaga, and the Cervantes Prize. In 1989 he published Delirio y Destino. Although she spent her last years limited in the legs, and sometimes depressed, she did some articles.

Commemorative plaque placed in 2004 in the last residence of María Zambrano in Madrid. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

María Zambrano died on February 6, 1991 in the Spanish capital, at the Hospital de la Princesa. The next day her remains were transferred to her hometown of Vélez in Malaga, and they lie in the local cemetery under a lemon tree.

Philosophy

The thought or philosophy of María Zambrano was oriented towards the existence of the divine and the spiritual, and their influence on the life of beings. For her, the lack of God or gods in human life was synonymous with restlessness, and the search for answers in other areas.

Zambrano based his proposals on two modalities. The first referred to man's questioning about what he did not know, this he called "philosophical attitude."

The second, for its part, was related to the serenity provided by the response obtained, which he called "poetic attitude."

The person as a product of his essence

Zambrano established the creation of the person from his essence as being. That is, all those emotional components that accompany men throughout their lives shape their behavior and existence.

Being is nothing more than the sum of his experiences, of everything that he has had to live and how he assumes it. Therefore, from birth to death, each individual always preserves their particularity as a being.

Nobody ever experiences the same events that other beings experience, and if this happens, each one assumes these experiences in different ways.

In this way, Zambrano perceived each subject that makes up the general reality as a summation of experiences and reactions to said experiences, giving rise to learning for individual growth.

Politics done differently

The thought of María Zambrano regarding politics was present in her works, as she was a woman who participated for a period in some activities related to that world. Over time she realized that politics in its essence could be realized on the very basis of thought.

For Zambrano, doing politics went beyond being a candidate or giving a speech; it had to do with the way life was conducted through the actions of its main actor: the man.

So it can be said that throughout his life he was political, according to his thinking, although he was not a member of any party.

The phenomenology of the divine

In Zambrano, this area was related to the human need to connect with God. It was there that his poetic and philosophical attitudes entered. Philosophy asked questions and poetry was in charge of ordering and shaping the answers that were obtained.

In this part, Zambrano's philosophy was oriented towards the person connecting with reality through the certainty of observing their environment and being observed.

María Zambrano considered that in the sacred or divine was the possibility of being, and that in that connection with God there was grace and calm for the fears that haunt each being. That was the way man could come to full consciousness, freedom and responsibility.

Rationalism and history

This section corresponds to María Zambrano's uneasiness about giving history a human character, and consequently the freedom and individual conscience to assume changes over time. Humanity cannot allow events to prevent it from being.

The creation of the person

Zambrano considered that the limitations, problems, deformations and social events had the same repercussions on people. For this reason, man had to be capable and conscious of going further, and surpassing himself.

In the transcendence of the individual there is a phenomenon of time. Zambrano structured this "phenomenon of time" as a periodic factor that has to do with events in the past, present and future.

Zambrano also stopped to analyze the way dreams had of presenting themselves. He considered that there are two types of dreams; the dreams of the "psyche", outside of time and the real plane, and the dreams of the person, which are destined to come true, through "awakening".

His poetic reason

The poetic reason of María Zambrano referred to scrutinizing the soul, in such a way that it reached the deepest part of it. By discovering the intimate, the sacred, the way was open to specify the method of constructing the individuality of the person.

He considered that the essence of being was the feelings, the emotions, the depth of his desires, ideas and thoughts. It is the essence of the individual that awakens the poetic, which then becomes a verb.

Finally, Zambrano's thought or philosophy was mystical and sublime, always related to being, its properties and essential principles. For her, individual reflection was important, and the transcendence of the individual towards the depth of life.

Plays

María Zambrano's work was extensive, and as deep as her thoughts. The following are some of the most important titles of a Spanish woman who obtained the recognition of her countrymen, when exile opened the doors to her.

- Horizon of liberalism (1930).

- Towards a knowledge of the soul (1934).

- Philosophy and poetry (1939).

- The living thought of Seneca (1941).

- The confession, literary genre and method (1943).

- Towards a knowledge about the soul (1950).

- Delirium and Destiny (1953, although published in 1989).

- The man and the divine (with two editions, 1955 and 1973).

- Person and democracy, a sacrificial story (1958).

- Spain dream and truth (1965).

- The tomb of Antígona (1967).

- Letters of the Piece. Correspondence with Agustín Andreu (1970s), - Glades of the forest (1977).

- The blessed (1979).

- Dreams and time (1989).

- Of the aurora (1986).

- The rest of the light (1986).

- For a history of piety (1989).

- Unamuno (Although he wrote it in 1940, it was published in 2003).

Brief description of the most representative works

Horizon of liberalism

Cover of Horizonte del liberalismo, by María Zambrano. Source: Student Residence (Madrid), via Wikimedia Commons

In this work the Spanish author explained what would be her thought and philosophy. She made an analysis on the cultural crisis of the Western world, and the influences of the liberal political crisis. With this work the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche and her professor José Ortega y Gasset was evidenced.

Towards a knowledge about the soul

This work by Zambrano was the window into what would be his thought on poetic reason. It was based on a series of articles written at different times, which it unified to solve some questions about philosophy, and its importance for the development of the individual's life.

The first question of the writer was about the existing possibility or not for man to order his inner being. It unfolds throughout the book in concepts of the soul, its need to find ways that give it peace, moving away from reason.

Delusion and destiny

Delirium and Destiny: The Twenty Years of a Spanish Woman, is an autobiographical work where Zambrano set out, among other topics, his decision to be part of the republican foundation. In this book, he made clear the marked influence that that journey had on his life, and the way in which it guided his thinking.

This work was written by Zambrano during one of his stays on Cuban soil between 1952 and 1953, but it was published after returning to Spain. Delirium and Destiny was a reflection on exile, existence, loneliness, nostalgia and the abandonment of the land where she was born.

The man and the divine

Signature of María Zambrano. Source: Lola4D, from Wikimedia Commons

With this work, María Zambrano had already reached the fullness of her poetic reason. In addition, she made an analysis of the human and the divine, and how they were related. She also referred to love and death, and to elements of thought that allow personal experiences.

Person and democracy: a sacrificial story

It has been considered one of the author's most political works, it is an analysis of democracy. Zambrano delved into the history and development of the government system, and considered it the most suitable for the advancement of a society.

For the writer, the conceptualization of democracy was linked to the concept of person. That meant that there must be awareness to recognize itself, and therefore recognize the faults in the environment, and make itself available to repair them.

Spain, dream and truth

With this book, the philosopher closed her vision of Spain from exile, and made her way towards the profile of dreams and nature. The perception of her country was made through personalities such as Pablo Picasso, Miguel de Cervantes, Emilio Prados, among others. It was written in Italian.

Forest glades

This work belongs to the essay genre, and has been considered of great literary value. It is a reflection of his poetic reason, of the transcendence of the human towards knowledge and life, it is a close connection with the divine through poetry.

The tomb of Antigone

It is a dramatic work based on the mythological character of Antígona, for which the author felt some admiration and sympathy. Through this writing she made it a symbol of exile. It is also the expression of the suffering of those who live the war.

Of the aurora

It is a compilation of essays with a philosophical content, where the author continued to ask questions about life and being. Zambrano developed dialogues with Nietzsche, Gasset and Spinoza on deep and hidden themes within reality, insufficient to find the truths of life.

Letters from La Piéce

Cartas de la Piéce were a set of correspondences that María Zambrano had with the also philosopher Agustín Andreu, at a time in her life when loneliness was already drowning her. It was a way to keep her thoughts alive, with a person who knew about her concerns.

The confession: literary genre and method

It is a book that reiterates the issues that I had already been studying and analyzing. In this special case it is about the language of the individual. He referred to certain codes that confess the existing need to find the identity of the person and with reality.

The creative dream

In this work, María Zambrano left a kind of guide to analyze the variation of time. It is a journey through life and exposes from her philosophy a way of leading us through it; it is an awakening to the reality that connects with the essential and intimate.

The writer also made reference to waking up within that time from sleep, which is related to opening your eyes every day. With each new day there is uncertainty, however, the being must focus on what has value for moving through life.

References

1. Biography of María Zambrano. (S. f.). Spain: María Zambrano Foundation. Recovered from: fundacionmariazambrano.org.
2. Maria Zambrano. (2005-2019). Spain: Cervantes Virtual Center. Recovered from: cvc.cervantes.es.
3. Maria Zambrano. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org.
4. Muñiz, A. (2003). Maria Zambrano. (N / A): Free Letters. Recovered from: letraslibres.com.
5. Maria Zambrano. Biography. (2019). Spain: Instituto Cervantes. Recovered from: cervantes.es.