José Echegaray: Spain's Nobel laureate 120 years ago

José Echegaray y Eizaguirre was a civil engineer, mathematician, statesman and one of the leading Spanish playwrights of the last quarter of the 19th century. It was in the field of literature, however, that he was awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize.

José Echegaray's early life was spent between Madrid, where he was born into a Basque family in 1832 , and Murcia, where he grew up. During his school years in Murcia, he discovered a deep passion for mathematical sciences and decided to dedicate his career to the subject. He studied the works of mathmaticians such as Gauss, Legendre and Lagrange, while also indulging in literature by Goethe, Homer and Balzac. Despite his academic pursuits, theatre remained the love of his life.

When José was 14 years old, he moved to Madrid to earn enough money to attend the School of Engineering for Roads, Canals and Ports. He eventually graduated from the Madrid school with a degree in civil engineering.

In 1854, José Echegaray began teaching mathematics, stereotomy, hydraulics, descriptive geometry and differential and physical calculus at the School of Engineering.

Later Echegaray went into politics. He was one of the founders of the Republican Radical Democratic Party, on top of already being a founder of the Bank of Spain as well. At the very beginning of the last century, Echegaray had a successful career in the public sector, being appointed Minister of Education, Public Works and Minister of Finance. He retired from politics after the Bourbon restoration.

It is 1874 that is considered the beginning of Echegaray's dramaturgical career (in 1865 he wrote La Hija Natural - The Natural Daughter - but he did not premiere it at that time). From that year he wrote many plays, some of them successful, some less so. 150 years ago, the play El Libro Talonario (The Chequebook) at the Apolo theatre was a success. His plays reflected the sense of duty that made him famous while working in government offices. Dilemmas involving duty and morality were central themes in his plays, which resonated with audiences.

His most famous play is El Gran Galeoto (The Great Galeoto), a drama written in the style of the 19th-century melodrama. It tells the story of how unfounded gossip destroys the happiness of a middle-aged man. The Spanish playwright was also influenced by the work of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen with themes of social content. Jose Echegaray became a member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1894 for his writing skills.

José Echegaray was able to replicate the achievements of his predecessors from Spain's Golden Age. In 1904, together with Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray received the Nobel Prize for Literature "in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama".

One of Malaga's main theatres and the street it stands in are named after José Echegaray. Apparently, the playwright never visited Malaga though his biography mentions two Andalusian cities. It is reported that Echegaray in his 20s "had to move to Almeria and Granada to start his first job".

In Malaga, the city named one of the today’s pedestrianised streets in the old town, which used to be Calle de las Capuchinas, after Echegaray. The street was created in 1876 following the demolition of the Capuchinas Convent as part of the Dismantlement. Today’s Teatro Echegaray was built in the street in 1932. It was designed by architect Manuel Rivera Vera and has an eclectic style, with outstanding handmade decoration. The theatre was originally conceived as a cinema, but after a renovation completed in 2009, it was transformed into a multi-disciplinary venue that can host dance, theatre and musical performances.

There is a curious story linking José Echegaray and Malaga. Last year, Basque pensioner Rubén Acedo, who lives on the Costa del Sol, read an article in El País that antiquarian Marta Micaela Fernández de Navarrete living in Puebla de Guzmán (Huelva province) had been trying for two decades to sell a manuscript of an unpublished work by José Echegaray for a paltry 1,600 euros, but no one had ever shown any interest.

That same day, Rubén Acedo contacted the antique dealer by phone and quickly negotiated the purchase of the manuscript for 2,200 euros. The play, a theatrical comedy entitled Don Fernando el Llamado, which Echegaray wrote in 1904 (five months before he won the Nobel Prize), eventually came to Malaga and not to the National Library, which contacted the bookseller later the same day to show its interest.