Ángel Ganivet y García (Granada 1865 – Riga 1898) was part of a movement which, in the last decades of the 19th century, set itself the task of analysing the symptoms of disease in Spain’s institutions and social framework, and suggesting remedies. He is considered a precursor to the “Generation of 1898”.
After studying in Granada and Madrid, receiving degrees in arts and law, Ganivet served as a diplomat in Antwerp (1892-96), Helsinki (1896-98) and finally in the Latvian capital Riga, where he committed suicide at the age of 32.
In Antwerp he wrote the satirical adventure tale La conquista del reino de Maya por el último conquistador español Pío Cid (“The conquest of the Mayan kingdom by the last Spanish conquerer, Pío Cid”), set in an imaginary country in east Africa. This novel not only criticizes contemporary Spain, but also satirizes modern European colonialism in Africa.
In Finland he finished in 1896 his major work, Idearium español (literally, “Spanish idearium”, also translated as “Spain, an interpretation”), a personal and impressionistic essay in which he presents his ideas about the essence of Spain. After an extensive survey of Spanish art, history, philosophy and religion, he reaches the conclusion that the Spaniard not only prefers and has always preferred spirituality to materialism, but also feels and has always felt an irresistible urge of independence. Ganivet relates the characterization of nations to their geographic identification (espíritu territorial) as an island, peninsula or continent. The continuous struggle for independence is typical for the inhabitants of a peninsula, like Spain. Modern Spain, Ganivet states, suffers from abulia (“lack of willpower”) because, in an intent to be “modern” and “European”, it has lost sight of its own identity. It could and should find new energy by concentrating on spiritual leadership instead of materialistic action. The self-images of Idearium español strongly influenced Spanish nationalist thought until far into the 20th century.
Although Ganivet lived a rather isolated life in the countries where he served as a diplomat, he was genuinely interested in their culture and social structure. In his Cartas Finlandesas (“Finnish letters”, 1896) his observations about Finnish government and culture lead to critical comments on his native land. Hombres del norte (“Men from the North”, 1898) is a study of Scandinavian authors (e.g. Ibsen, whom he especially admired) and contains a long essay devoted to the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. As far as Ganivet’s personal intellectual development is concerned, from extreme individualism to exalted nationalism, parallels have been pointed out with the French author Maurice Barrès, whose work he knew well.
