PÍO BAROJA: BIOGRAPHY, LITERARY STYLE, THEMES AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Pío Baroja y Nessi (1872-1956) was an important Spanish writer and novelist who was a member of the renowned Generation of '98. This author's work was characteristic of the representation of the reality of society: marginalized people were its main protagonists.

Baroja's ideas and thoughts were formed as a consequence of the different events in his life and the influences he had. His literary style was marked by his firmness in denying the existence and value of things; For this reason, it was considered part of the philosophical current called nihilism.

Pío Baroja. Source: UnknownUnknown author, via Wikimedia Commons

The writings of Pío Baroja were mostly framed in the genre of the novel; his forays into poetry were few. Expressiveness and dynamism were fundamental to the success of the writer. At the same time, the simplicity and crudeness of his language set him apart from others.

Pío Baroja's work was relevant and different at the same time. He was a writer of free talent, who did not care to please through rhetoric, order or the elegance of language, but honestly transmitted life as he observed it from his conceptions and ideas.

Biography

Pío Baroja was born in San Sebastián on December 28, 1872. The future writer came from a wealthy family.

His parents were José Mauricio Serafín Baroja Zornoza, a mining engineer; and Andrea Nessi Goñi, of Italian lineage. Pío was the third of four brothers: Darío, Ricardo and Carmen.

Pio's childhood

The writer's childhood years were marked by the different places of residence he had due to the engineering job that his father did for the State. When he was seven years old he moved with his family to Madrid; the atmosphere of the city and the people remained in his memory.

Mr. Serafín Baroja sometimes worked as a journalist. In Madrid he attended the literary meetings that took place in the cafes and on occasions invited renowned writers of the time to his home. Such encounters influenced little Pius in literary activity.

Pamplona was also home to Baroja. Both he and his brother Ricardo had a hard time adjusting to a new school.

At that time the infant was already reading with absolute fluency and understanding; the works of Jules Verne and Daniel Defoe were his favorites. It was in that city where his sister Carmen was born in 1884.

The birth of his younger sister, when Baroja was twelve years old, was significant for the novelist; the little girl went deep into her feelings.

During the 19th century, Pamplona gave Pío enough experiences, which helped him to write his works later.

From Pamplona he traveled to Bilbao, and from Bilbao again to Madrid. Pío's mother considered a stable environment important for the training of his children, so the father traveled alone and visited them frequently. In the Spanish capital, he was able to complete high school studies at the San Isidro Institute.

Years of training

After finishing high school, Baroja entered the College of Surgery of San Carlos to study medicine. The young man did not stand out as a good student; He had talent, but no interest. He was apathetic to all university careers, the only thing that did not bore him was reading and writing.

While doing his medical internship, he began to write short stories. From that time were the sketches of two of his novels: Path of Perfection and The Adventures of Silvestre Paradox. Pio's rebellion led him to not sympathize with any of his teachers.

Again, the work of Baroja's father forced the family to move to Valencia. There he was able to continue his studies and, despite some suspensions and differences with the teachers, he was able to finish his degree. That was the time when his brother Darío began to suffer from tuberculosis.

Baroja went to Madrid to do his doctorate in medicine as quickly as possible. Once again in Madrid, he took the opportunity to take steps in journalism and wrote some articles for the newspapers La Unión Liberal and La Justicia. In 1894 Darío, his older brother, died.

Once recovered from the pain and sadness over the death of his brother, at the age of twenty-six, Baroja was able to present his doctoral thesis entitled El dolor, estudio de psicofísica. Subsequently, he practiced for almost a year as a rural doctor in Guipúzcoa, and shortly after he left the profession.

Baroja's dawn as a writer

Baroja returned to Madrid again after a call from his brother Ricardo, who was in charge of a bakery assigned to him by a maternal aunt. Pío managed the place for some time, while collaborating as a writer for newspapers and magazines.

Things at the bakery weren't quite right; the family of the aunt's husband, the workers and the union made it difficult for them. However, at that time she was able to meet people who enriched her future novels. Soon after, the bakery ceased its functions.

Monument to Pío Baroja. Source: someone10x, via Wikimedia Commons

During this stay in Madrid, Pío's permanent taste for writing was born. He read German philosophy endlessly, especially that of Inmanuel Kant and Arthur Schopenhauer, and was also influenced by the works and thought of Friedrich Nietzsche.

All the texts he read at that time inclined him towards the philosophical doctrine of pessimism, his vision led him to see a world where pain was continuous and began to agree with anarchy. Likewise, his friendship with Azorín and Ramiro Maeztu brought him closer to literature.

General aspects of your life

Travels

In 1899 Baroja decided to make some trips. She dedicated herself to getting to know different cities in Spain and Europe, especially Paris. He mostly traveled with his brothers Ricardo and Carmen, and sometimes with his friends Azorín, Ramiro Maeztu, Valle-Inclán and José Ortega y Gasset.

The writer's travels allowed him to store a wide range of environments, characters, landscapes and knowledge that later served to develop and develop his novels. He knew Madrid like the palm of his hand; Based on his poorer environments, he wrote La lucha por la vida.

During those trips he frequented the brothers Antonio and Manuel Machado. In addition, he took the opportunity to offer gatherings in the well-known cafes of Madrid, where he obtained a good reputation. Morocco, Italy, England, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Denmark were part of his journey.

Relationship with politics

Another aspect that stood out in the life of Pío Baroja was politics. At the beginning of his work he showed interest in the anarchist movements, as well as in the republican government.

On the other hand, towards the end of his work his inclination towards absolutism and conservatism was more palpable.

Militancy in the Radical Republican Party

Although he did not serve in the military, he was an active actor in electoral campaigns. Baroja was a member of the Radical Republican Party, led by the politician Alejandro Lerroux García.

In addition, he ran for councilor in the municipality of Fraga and Madrid, but lost the candidacy.

Outbreak of the Spanish civil war

The life of the writer was marked by important events. When the Spanish civil war broke out, the Carlist troops who defended the Catholic religion - which Baroja opposed - arrested him. The event greatly affected the novelist, who decided to go to the border with France.

Inauguration of the bust of Pío Baroja in the cloister of the San Telmo museum. Source: Ricardo Martín

On September 13, 1937, he was able to return to his country, after having been in exile for a year. Some time later he went to Paris and returned to Spain at times until the conflict ended. His final return was in 1940 to a country consumed by the effects of war.

Last years and death

Baroja spent the last years of his life between exile and return to the homeland. Even when the war ended, he kept writing.

His best work culminated when the fire ceased, except for his excellent autobiography called From the last turn of the road.

One of the direct consequences that the Spanish conflict left the novelist was censorship. Due to the crudeness and sensibleness of his pen, he could not publish Miseries of War. He spent the postwar period walking through the streets of Madrid.

Baroja was a man who did not know loves; in fact, she never married and left no descendants.

With the passage of time, arteriosclerosis was sapping his health. He passed away on October 30, 1956 and his atheism accompanied him to death.

Literary style

Pío Baroja's literary style was characterized by focusing mostly on the narrative genre, as evidenced by his famous novels and some short stories. What really mattered to him was the simplicity and expressiveness of the ideas, so he neglected grammar rules, vocabulary, and syntax.

When writing his novels, maintaining naturalness and observing reality directly were the perfect pair to win over readers. Regarding the structure of his works, they were full of dialogues that solved problems with a simple plot.

Baroja frequently used the description of landscapes, territories and stories both in the protagonists and in the secondary characters. Her style was lively, sagacious, much more crude and always attached to the negative, pessimism and a lack of faith and belief, just as she lived her life.

Frequent Topics

Pío Baroja wrote frequently about the reality of life through the observations he made and the memories he had of the different characters he met in the places where he lived. The rebellion and maladjustment was a reflection of their way of life.

His frequent themes were misery, lack of action, and man's struggle to change situations that were presented to him. His characters were limited, defeated and frustrated beings; the protagonists of his works are not exactly heroes.

What really mattered to this Spanish novelist was the truth of life itself. For him life was unsatisfactory and no problem was solved with political, religious or philosophical resources. His thought was captured as is, without fear or inhibition, in each of his writings.

Pío de Baroja Avenue. Source: Joanbanjo, from Wikimedia Commons

At some point the writer himself asserted that his contribution to literature was to estimate fairly and psychologically the reality of the experiences. In addition, Pio had the ability to know people in a deep way, which helped him fully develop his characters.

Complete works

Novels

Pío Baroja's work is extensive; only the novels number about sixty-six. He grouped them into nine trilogies and two tetralogies.

Not all have elements in common; in fact, the latest works of this genre were called "single novels" because they were not grouped together.

Among his first works is the book Shady Lives, published in 1900, when he was twenty-eight years old. The stories in the writing were based on the lifestyle of the inhabitants of Cestona, where he practiced as a doctor for some time.

Among his most important novels were the following:

- The house of Aizgorri (1900).

- Path of perfection (1901).

- El mayorazgo de Labraz (1903).

- The last romantics (1906).

- The grotesque tragedies (1907).

- Zalacaín the adventurer (1908).

- The tree of knowledge (1911).

- The concerns of Shanti Andía (1911).

- The labyrinth of the sirens (1923).

- Late loves (1926).

- The Cape of Storms (1932).

- Madness of carnival (1937).

- Susana and the fly hunters (1938).

- Laura or the hopeless loneliness (1939).

- Yesterday and today (1939).

- The Knight of Erlaiz (1943).

- The bridge of souls (1944).

- The Swan Hotel (1946).

- The vagabond singer (1950).

- Miseries of war (2006).

Historical novels

For twenty-two years, between 1913 and 1935, Baroja published Memories of a man of action, a historical narrative that was based on the exploits of Eugenio de Aviraneta, a politician and a military man. Pío Baroja wrote more than twenty historical novels.

To write these novels, the author studied and documented effectively the events that marked the political, social, cultural and economic direction of his native Spain. Below are his most important titles within this literary genre:

- The conspirator's apprentice (1913).

- The squad of the Brigante (1913).

- The ways of the world (1914).

- With the pen and with the saber (1915).

- The contrasts of life (1920).

- The taste of revenge (1921).

- The legend of Juan Alzate (1922).

- Human enigma (1928).

- The audacious confidants (1930).

- From the beginning to the end (1935).

Theater

Baroja was also prolific in the theater. His famous theatrical pieces were the following:

- Harlequin, apothecary boy (1926).

- The pretenders of Colombina (1926).

- The horrific crime of Peñaranda del Campo (1926).

- The night of brother Beltrán (1929).

- Everything ends well… sometimes (1955).

- Goodbye to bohemia (1926).

essays

As far as the production of his essays is concerned, they were extremely profound, very well accomplished both in form and substance. The following stand out:

- The stage of A rlequín (1904).

- Youth, egotism (1917).

- The cavern of humor (1919).

- The lonely hours (1918).

- Memories. Since the last turn of the road (1944-1948).

Brief description of the most emblematic works

The house of Aizgorri

This work is considered one of Baroja's first works, which was included in the Tierra Vasca trilogy.

In this writing the author reflected the problems that an upper class man had to face in a society in crisis. It was qualified within the works of Modernism.

Zalacaín the adventurer

This work is one of those that composes Tierra Vasca. Its importance has been such that it is one of the hundred best novels of the 20th century in the Spanish language.

It is the story of a young man named Martín Zalacaín, from the Basque region of Spain, who has a life of adventures.

It is a story of love and entanglements. The protagonist has a sister named Ignacia who falls in love with his enemy Carlos, who is also the brother of the maiden that Zalacaín loves. The adventurer Martín is forced to marry his relative to another to keep her away from the evils of his rival.

Path of perfection

Pío Baroja inserted this work in the fantastic life trilogy and it is made up of sixty chapters. The novel is a reflection of the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schpenhauer on the writer. It is the reflection of the social and political situation in Spain at the beginning of the 20th century.

The protagonist of this novel is Fernando Ossorio, who lives in torment because his life has always been linked to near-death experiences. The young man decides to go in search of the pure, of peace of the soul, but since he cannot find it, he begins to behave far from faith and religion.

The last romantics

It belonged to the trilogy or series The Past, along with the works The Fair of the Discreet and The Grotesque Tragedies. The novel tells the story of Fausto Bengoa, who travels to Paris for inheritance matters, and the way in which he relates to the Spanish who live as exiles in the city of light.

The nuances of the novel change when Fausto's eldest daughter arrives in town and later dies. The events at the end of this story give rise to the birth of Grotesque Tragedies. Baroja documented himself in such a way about Paris that everything fit very well with the reality of the time.

The grotesque tragedies

The novel continues with the story of Fausto Bengoa, the protagonist of The Last Romantics. The arrival of the man's wife changes the whole situation. The woman's ambition leads him to distance himself between himself and his friends, and the marriage begins to suffer.

Baroja gave this story more plot and dynamism, and episodes from real life are part of the novel: the end agrees with the insurrectionary movement of the Paris communes in 1871. The author was more scathing and criticized the called the Second French Empire (1852-1870).

The science tree

Baroja considered that this work was one of the most complete and one of the best that he wrote in terms of philosophical content. It is autobiographical in nature and combined medicine with the faces of his country in the 20th century. In addition, I set it in different cities in Spain between 1887 and 1898.

The writer structured the novel into four parts, grouped two by two. The sections were separated with dialogues on philosophy in which the protagonists are Andrés Hurtado (doctor) and Dr. Iturrioz, who was his uncle. The work was characterized by the linearity of its narrative.

As for the title of this novel, it is related to the topic of conversation that Hurtado and Iturrioz have in part four of the book on the creation of Eden. God created the trees of life and science in paradise, and prevented man from contacting the latter.

Shanti Andía's concerns

Pío Baroja qualified this novel within the tetralogy El mar. It tells the story of an old man named Shanti Andía, who loves the ocean, and begins to narrate the anecdotes of his childhood. The protagonist's love, youth and old age are the main plot of the play.

Memoirs of a man of action

This important work by Pío Baroja comprises twenty-two novels of a historical nature. The author tells the story of a relative of his named Eugenio de Aviraneta, who served as a liberal politician who played his part as an adventurer and conspirator.

In this compendium the writer collected some of the most important events in the history of Spain up to that time, such as the War of Independence, the invasion of the Hundred thousand sons of San Luis, the First Carlist War and the liberal triennium between the years 1820 and 1823.

This complex of novels is characterized by the particular way that Baroja had to narrate. Besides this, it has traits of adventures due to mystery, conspiracies, wars, massacres and cruelties. It also featured characters with engaging anecdotes and stories to tell.

The beginning of the story is related to the protagonist of Shanti Andía's concerns, since this is the main narrator. Baroja related him to a guerrilla named Pedro de Leguía, who was a friend of Aviraneta.

References

1. Pío Baroja. (2018). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org.
2. Pérez, S. (2007). Pío Baroja's style. (N / a): Sheila Pérez WordPress. Recovered from: sheilaperez.wordpress.com.
3. Fernández, J. (2018). Pío Baroja and Nessi. Spain: Hispanoteca. Recovered from: hispanoteca.eu.
4. Tamaro, E. (2004-2018). Pío Baroja. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
5. Pío Baroja. (2019). (N / a): Lecturalia. Recovered from: lecturalia.com.