Life
Born in 1867 into a bourgeois family in Almería (Andalusia), Carmen de Burgos had a sheltered and comfortable upbringing. In 1882 she fell in love with Arturo Álvarez Bustos, a local journalist and poet. Despite family opposition (he was fourteen years her senior), she married him in 1883, this being the only socially acceptable form of escape from paternal guardianship. As for many of her fictional heroines, married life was a rude awakening for Burgos. Her husband turned out to be an abusive alcoholic who showed little respect for his wife. Due to his alcoholism, she was obliged to become the bread-winner and virtually take over his work as a typesetter on his father’s newspaper. This experience gave her both financial independence from her husband — which would later comprise
2278 words
Citation: Louis, Anja. "Carmen de Burgos". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12184, accessed 21 November 2024.]
