Pedro Ortiz Armengol

Pedro Ortiz Armengol (b. 1922 - d. 11 March 2009) was a former Spanish ambassador to the Philippines. He was also known as a distinguished writer, historian, traveller and Philippine scholar. Ortiz Armengol was known to Filipinos for his book Intramuros de Manila: de 1571 hasta su destruccion en 1945, which was published in Madrid by the Ediciones de Cultura Hispanica in 1958. Because of this landmark book, he is considered as the primary Spanish scholar on the history and urbanity of Manila.

He was a true Madrileño, born in its city center in Calle San Luis.

Career

In Spain he grew in fame as the primary scholar of Spanish literary great Benito Perez Galdos, a novelist whom he championed and positioned against other international authors Charles Dickens and Honore de Balzac. Ortiz Armengol strongly believed that Perez Galdos was the second most important Spanish writer of all time, after Miguel Cervantes. He published his masterful and voluminous biography of Galdos in 1995. The following year Ortiz Armengol's work was accorded the highest distinction when the Real Academia Española awarded it the Premio Fastenrath, its highest literary award.

He also wrote on a diversity of subjects, ranging from Pio Baroja, Leandro Fernandez de Moratin, Jose Rizal, and the Generation of '98.

He served as a Spanish diplomat in London, Washington D.C., Paris, Lisbon, and Manila.

List of publications

• 1958 -- Intramuros de Manila : de 1571 hasta su destrucción en 1945.
• 1969 -- Espronceda y los gendarmes.
• 1970 -- Aviraneta y diez más : Albuín, Van Halen, Bessières, Leguía, Arrambide, Regato, Corpas, M. Guerra, R. Alpuente, Olózaga.
• 1978 -- Relojes y tiempo en "Fortunata y Jacinta" : cronología de una novela de Galdós.
• 1979 -- Fortunata y Jacinta : (dos historias de casadas) / Benito Pérez Galdós ; [estudio preliminar y notas de Pedro Ortiz Armengol].
• 1985 -- Año que vivió Moratín en Inglaterra, 1792-1793.
• 1988 -- Agonías y muerte del abate Marchena.
• 1987 -- Apuntaciones para "Fortunata y Jacinta".
• 1989 -- Historia de una esquina : la sede del Colegio de Aparejadores.
• 1991 -- Dolores Armijo : historias viejas de Manila.
• 1992 -- Pasyon filipina del hermano Pulé.
• 1994 -- Aviraneta, o, La intriga.
• 1995 -- Décadas isabelinas : historias viejas de Manila.
• 1995 -- Vida de Galdós.
• 1999 -- Letras en Filipinas.

Death

Ortiz Armengol died on 11 March 2009 at the age of 87. His funeral took place on 27 March 2009 in Iglesia de San Agustín, calle Joaquín Costa 10, Madrid, Spain.

In his own words

• On his insistence that Spanish Philippine history cannot be read against that of Cuba and Puerto Rico: "Tengo muy viva la idea de que la Filipinas española del siglo XIX fue un mundo que no se ha repetido. No se pareció a nada."

• On the loss of knowledge about Spanish Philippines: "La Filipinas española, con todos sus defectos y errores, es una realidad absolutamente desconocida, cuando no tergiversada, por la Filipinas de hoy. Mis novelas sobre ese país son una reacción personal ante ese desconocimiento".

References and external links

• Pedro Ortiz Armengol, escritor, galdosiano, diplomático. Accessed on 27 March 2009.
• Ocampo, Ambeth R. Cultural oasis. In Inquirer.net Global Nation. (Accessed on 27 March 2009).
• Pedro Ortiz-Armengol. (Accessed on 27 March 2009).
• Spanish newspaper El Pais Eulogy Accessed on 27 March 2009).

• Spanish website Critica short bio Accessed on 27 March 2009.

• Ortiz Armengol Short interview by El Pais writer Elsa Fernandez-Santos Accessed on 27 March 2009.

 This Philippine-related article is a stub. You can help WikiPilipinas by expanding it.

Citation

Original content from WikiPilipinas. under GNU Free Documentation License. See full disclaimer.