Fernan Caballero was the pseudonym of Cecilia Bohl von Faber, the Spanish novelist. She was born in 1797 and died in 1877. she was the daughter of a German settled in Spain and married to a Spanish lady. Her first novel, La Gaviota, appeared in 1849, and was followed by Elia, Clemencia, La Familia de Alvareda, etc, as well as by many shorter stories. The chief charm of her writings lies in her descriptions of life and nature in Andalusia. She was three times left a widow; her last husband's name was De Arrom. Research Fernan Caballero
Juan Valera y Alcala Galiano was a Spanish novelist and diplomatist. He was born in 1824 at Cabra in Andalusia, and died in 1905. Educated at Granada University, he entered the diplomatic service in 1847, and later became a prominent publicist, in 1868 being director of public education. From 1881 to 1895 he represented Spain in Lisbon, Washington, Brussels, and Vienna. A volume of poems, 1856, was followed by Critical Studies of Literature, 1864, but Valera's first novel, Pepita Jimenez; did not appear until 1874 (an English translation being produced by by M. J. Serrano, in 1891). It is regarded as a classic, and was followed by The Illusions of Dr. Faustino, 1875; KnightCommanderMendoza, 1877; Dona Luz, 1879; a volume of short stories, 1887; and other novels, including Juanita la Larga, 1896, an admirable study of Andalusian peasant life, Research Juan Valera y Alcala Galiano
Pablo de Cespedes was a Spanish painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and man of letters. He was born in 1538 at Cordova and died in 1608. He entered the university of Alcala de Henares in 1556, and finally went to Rome, where he studied under Zucchero and Michael Angelo, and became renowned both for frescoes and sculptures. In 1577 he obtained a prebend in the cathedral of Cordova, and from that time resided alternately in his native town and in Seville. His best pictures are in Cordova, Seville, Madrid, and several towns of Andalusia. He was the head of the then Andalusian school of painting, and numbered among his pupils some painters of distinction. Research Pablo de Cespedes
The Vandals were a Teutonic people of the east Germanic stock. Although closely associated with the Goths, they were, unlike them, destitute of the nobler barbarian qualities. Having moved from the shores of the Baltic to the middle Danube, they migrated west. At the beginning of the 5th century they poured into Gaul, and in 409 made their way into Spain. Thither they were soon followed by the Visigoths, who destroyed half of them and penned the rest into the district which still bears their name in the form Andalusia. About 428 they left Spain for North Africa. Upon the Mediterraneanlittoral they established a powerful dominion, and there they ruled for a hundred years. Of their kings the most famous was Gaiseric who carried out the conquest between 429 and 439, and sacked Rome in 455. Their fanatical devotion to Arianism made them fierce persecutors of the Catholics. The pirate fleets of the Vandals spread terror over the whole Mediterranean, but in 533 the emperor Justinian, bent on a full restoration of the dominion of the Caesars, dispatched Belisarius to tame their insolence. The work was done so thoroughly that the Vandal race was wiped out. Research Vandals
Andalusite is a mineral formed by the metamorphism of aluminous shales and slate. It is used in the manufacture of spark plugs and other porcelains and may serve as a gem stone if it is clear and transparent, and exhibits the optical phenomenon of pleochroism - that is the capacity to appear in different colours when viewed in different lights and from different angles. It is named from Andalusia, a province of Spain where it was first discovered. It has the formulae Al2SiO5 and a relative hardness of 8. Research Andalusite
Sierra De Zuheros is a Spanish, traditional, farmhouse and creamery hard rind hard cheese made from goat's milk of the Murcia breed in the Andalusia region. Research Sierra De Zuheros
Alpujarras is a district of Spain, in Andalusia, between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean. The region is mountainous, but with rich and well-cultivated valleys yielding grain, vines, olives, and other fruits. The traditional inhabitants were Christianized descendants of the Moors. Research Alpujarras
The Guadalquivir is a river of Spain, which rises in the frontiers of Murcia, traverses Andalusia from north-east to south-west, passing the towns of Cordova and Seville, and thereafter flowing south-south-west and falls into the Atlantic. Its course is about 250 miles (400 km). Research Guadalquivir
Abbreviations
Research Fernan Caballero
