Camilo Jose Cela - 1995 - Spain

Camilo José Cela was born in Iria Flavia, Padrón, Galicia, Spain of Galician and English parents. Before he became a professional writer, Cela attended the University of Madrid, where he briefly pursued a law degree. He also fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of Franco, until he was wounded by an errant grenade and his military service necessarily came to an end. Cela published his first novel, La Familia de Pascual Duarte (The Family of Pascual Duarte), when he was 26, in 1942. Pascual Duarte has trouble finding validity in conventional morality and commits a number of crimes, including murders, for which he feels nothing. In this sense he is similar to Meursault in Albert Camus's novel The Stranger. This novel is also of particular importance as it played a large part in shaping the direction of the post-war Spanish novel.