Celso Emilio Ferreiro

Celso Emilio Ferreiro Mínguez (1912 in Celanova – 1979 in Vigo) was a Galicianist activist, writer and political journalist.

He was born in a well-off Galicianist family. When he was 20 years old, in 1932, he created the Mocedades Galeguistas de Celanova with Xosé Velo Mosquera; in 1934 he also participated in the creation of the Federación de Mocedades Galeguistas. Some time later he got into trouble because of an article published in his magazine "Guieiro". He was mobilized in the Spanish Civil War by Francisco Franco's troops . He studied law and contributed to many magazines and newspapers until 1966, when he travelled to Venezuela, where he collaborated with the "Galician Brotherhood". He fell out with the Galician nationalists in Venezuela, and in response published the poetry collection "Viaxe ao pais dos ananos" (Journey to the Land of the Dwarves). He founded the "Patronato da Cultura Galega", and was part of President Caldera's cabinet.

Later, he lived in Madrid, where he worked as a journalist. He wrote in Galician and in Castilian, but his most important work was his Galician-language poetry. "Longa noite de pedra" (Long Night of Stone), a lament at the anti-Galician policies of the Franco regime, is one of the best-known and most powerful Galician poems of all time.

Books

*"Cartafol de poesía"
*"O sono sulagado"
*"Viaxe ao país dos ananos"
*"Terra de ningures"
*"Onde o mundo se chama Celanova"
*"Longa noite de pedra"
*"Cimeterio privado"

The Día das Letras Galegas ("Galician Literature Day") was dedicated to Celso Emilio in 1989.