Slippery, deceiving, seductive, hustling, sponger, bohemian; those are some of the adjectives that resume the life, full of drama as well as comedy, of José Zorrilla (1817-1893), the last of the Romantics, the 200th anniversary of whose birth, February 21st of 1817, was celebrated in Valladolid this past Tuesday.

On the other side of the scale, to balance his fractious nature as a survivor in a political and familial environment that was hostile to his most vital appetites, we find a person full of innocence and generosity, without any thought of profit or material gain, “a by-the-book Romantic,” in the words of Paz Altés, head of the Publication Center (Centro de Publicaciones) of the Valladolid City Hall and director of the Casa Zorrilla.

"More than his works, his life was that of a by-the-book Romantic, penniless, fond of esotericism, magic and fantasy, as well as nature, art, and the bohemian life,” explained to Efe Altés, who is working as the coordinator of a wide program of cultural activities that will celebrate throughout 2017 the bicentennial of the author of the play Don Juan Tenorio. The only child of José Zorrilla and Nicomedes Moral, Zorrilla was born at the old house of the Marquis of Revilla, located on Ceniza Street, which had been rented by his sire, a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy, after he arrived in Valladolid in 1816 to take a position as a rapporteur at the Royal Chancellery. Here little José came into the world, in a residence that retains to this day its original structure and gardens, and that in 2007 was converted into a museum dedicated to Romanticism and the poet –not to mention that it that also functions as an exhibition hall, a lecture hall, a theater where his plays are staged, and the permanent home of the Book Fair of Valladolid (FLV).

Original source – El Mundo