Garcia Lorca, Federico

(1898-1936)

   Spain. Poet and playwright. In 1922, he organized a festival in Granada that paid tribute to Gypsy traditions. His Romancero gitano [Gypsy Ballad Book] was published in 1928 and demonstrates his empathy with the Romany community. He had already shown this sentiment two years earlier by opposing the brutal expulsion of Gypsies from Alpujarra. Speaking of this book, he said, "I gave it the name Gypsy Ballads because the Gypsies are the highest, the deepest, and the most aristocratic people of my land." The Pralipe Theater performed Garcia Lorca's play Blood Wedding in their repertoire, and the Hungarian Romany poet Jószef Choli Daróczi has independently translated it into Romani.