Julián Marías Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Excelentísimo Señor Don
Julián Marías
Honorific-Suffix:OAXS
Era:20th-century philosophy, Contemporary philosophy
Birth Name:Julián Marías Aguilera
Birth Date:17 June 1914
Birth Place:Valladolid, Spain
Death Place:Madrid, Spain
Occupation:Philosopher, writer, professor and essayist
Yearsactive:1930s–2005
Partner:Dolores Franco Manera
Relatives:Jesús Franco (brother-in-law)
Children:4
Module:
Embed:yes
Office:Seat S of the Real Academia Española
Term Start:20 June 1965
Term End:15 December 2005
Predecessor:Wenceslao Fernández Flórez

Julián Marías Aguilera (17 June 1914 – 15 December 2005) was a Spanish philosopher associated with the Generation of '36 movement. He was a pupil of the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset and member of the Madrid School.[1]

Life and work

Marías was born in the city of Valladolid, and moved to Madrid at the age of five. He went on to study philosophy at the Complutense University of Madrid, graduating in 1936. Within months of his graduation the Spanish Civil War broke out. During the conflict Marías sided with the Republicans, although his actual contributions were limited to propaganda articles and broadcasts.

After the end of the war in 1939, Marías was imprisoned for several months on false charges, and was unable to carry out university teaching activities after his release. His doctoral thesis was rejected due to the committee's animosity towards someone who was a disciple of Ortega. In 1940, his History of Philosophy was published — his first work published after the civil war — and although it ended up being a great publishing success, it led him to go through a period of financial difficulties due to his being banned from teaching by the Franco regime, and so Marías instead supported himself with private classes and translations.

In 1948 he co-founded, along with his former teacher José Ortega y Gasset, the Instituto de Humanidades (which he went on to head after the death of Ortega in 1955). Between the late 1940s and the 1970s, being unable to teach in Spain, Marías taught at numerous institutions in the United States, including Harvard University, Yale University, Wellesley College, the University of Oklahoma, and UCLA.

Marías wrote on a wide variety of subjects during his long career. A subject of particular interest was Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. In 1964 he was elected into the Real Academia Española, and he won a Prince of Asturias award in 1996.

He is the father of novelist Javier Marías and art historian Fernando Marías, and married the sister of director Jesús Franco.

Works

Selected works in translation

External links

Notes and References

  1. A. Pablo Iannone, Dictionary of World Philosophy', Routledge, 2013, p. 328: "Madrid School".