Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Monday 29 July 2024. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is currently very much focused on a well-deserved tribute to a real pioneer of culture and the performing arts in the Islands. One of the branches of the Municipal Library Network (lpabibliotecas.com) is named after a person who, with the perspective of history, could be classified without much difficulty as a courageous woman, richly talented and culturally active, whom the circumstances of her time were unable to put in the shade. Josefina de la Torre (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1907–Madrid, 2002) is without a doubt one of the names that explain the deep engagement in avant-garde movements which played a leading role in young Spanish literature in the early twentieth century: an embodiment of the search for modernity, a faithful representative of a cohort of talents eager to move beyond the old ossified forms and usher in new kinds of intellectual creativity.

Today, the municipal library in Plaza Agatha Christie (another formidable woman) provides a necessary cultural service to the residents in the area around one of the most popular stretches of Las Canteras beach. Located on the route that surfers follow to get to La Cícer, these refurbished premises preserve the legacy of a woman who also symbolises the stirring of curiosity on the islands in a century that turned out to be one of violent social and political upheaval throughout the whole country. But who was De la Torre, and why should we remember her like this today?

Josefina de la Torre Millares was born in 1907 into a family defined by artistic vocations. Daughter of the businessman Bernardo de la Torre Cominges and Francisca Millares Cubas, a passionate devotee of the arts, Josefina was the granddaughter of the composer, writer and historian Agustín Millares Torres, niece of the baritone Néstor de la Torre (Nestore Della Torre on the operatic stage) and sister of the author and dramatist Claudio de la Torre. The family was accustomed to being on familiar terms with forums such as the Royal Academy of History, theatres such as La Scala in Milan and awards such as the National Prize for Literature. A respectable family, in the best sense of the word, in which the young Josefina, from an early age, was able to find encouragement and stimulus to develop her own cultural interests.

These were always connected with poetry, theatre and music. Josefina was a precocious writer, played the piano, violin and guitar and loved singing. But even more, acting. On the ground floor of their family home in Las Canteras, she and Claudio organised little theatrical performances in the purest family tradition. The youngsters took up the baton with enthusiasm, in what came to be called the Teatro Mínimo. It fuelled their ambitions to see the world and expand their creative abilities. She and Claudio moved to Madrid to complete their studies: in Josefina’s case, as a singer and actress.

From then on, her life became the exciting adventure of an indomitable woman. She met and became a member of the Generation of 1927, a crucial group in Spanish literature, and was one of what were then called the Sinsombrero, or “Hatless Women”, who dared to bare their heads when walking in the Puerta del Sol. They were true pioneers of the visibility of women at the forefront of the cultural scene. She published her first work that very year, the collection Versos y estampas [Verses and Vignettes], with a foreword by Pedro Salinas. She entered that select circle of immortal writers after accompanying her brother to receive the National Prize for Literature in Madrid. The quality of her own work earned her the recognition of her contemporaries and inclusion in Gerardo Diego’s Antología de la Poesía Española (Contemporáneos) (1934).

In the 1930s she worked as a dubbing actress in France. Also in Paris at the same time was her friend Luis Buñuel. Once again, Claudio was at her side, adapting scripts. Among other things, Josefina was the on-screen voice of the amazing Marlene Dietrich, before returning to Madrid to excel as a singer and actress. She became a soloist with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, achieving numerous successes along the way on several of the leading stages in the country.

During the turbulent years of the Civil War she returned to the capital of Gran Canaria, her home. She published her first novels under the pen name Laura de Cominges. After the war she returned to Madrid and established herself as a prestigious actress, as well as making a notable contribution to developing the film magazine Primer Plano (as assistant director, scriptwriter and columnist), appearing a couple of times on the cover. She also stood out in her first film roles, in Primer amor (First Love), La blanca paloma (The White Dove) and Misterio en la marisma (Mystery in the Marsh), directed by her brother Claudio. She appeared in a handful of films, the last being La vida en un hilo (Life on a Thread), written and directed by Edgar Neville.

In the 1940s she continued her career as a star of the theatre, becoming the leading actress in the Teatro María Guerrero company. She starred in several radio serials and was a member of the group of actors in Spanish National Radio’s Teatro Invisible. And she founded her own company, in 1946, while continuing to work in others.

Restrained as a poet during the long Francoist period, Josefina remained an actress until she performed her last role in the Spanish Television series Anillos de oro (Gold Rings) (1983). On her death, in Madrid in 2002, the Spanish Academy of Film Arts and Sciences paid tribute to her at the Goya Awards Gala. Her poems, her literary works, her voice and the quality of her acting will remain for posterity. The two volumes of her Poesía completa (Complete Poetry) (2020) will always be worthy of recommendation. In the year of their publication, Canarian Literature Day was held in her honour.

And the root of incorruptible fire

that grows inside me, still unsated,

will move the indomitable prison

with its weeping of abandoned ruins.

Josefina de la Torre