Graciela Palau de Nemes

Graciela Palau de Nemes (March 24, 1919 – September 28, 2019)[1][2][3] was a Cuban literary critic. She critiqued the works of the Nobel laureate poet Juan Ramón Jiménez as well as of Spanish and Latin American literature, in general. Her academic contributions to the criticism of poetry and poetics, modernismo, memoirs, and the epistolary genre were recognized both nationally and internationally.

Education

Dr. Nemes came to the University of Maryland, College Park in 1946 where she met Juan Ramón Jiménez. Jiménez became Nemes' mentor while she undertook language teaching and pursued her master's and doctoral degrees.[4] Dr. Nemes earned her master's degree in 1949 and her doctoral degree in 1952.[5]

Career

Dr. Nemes was a pioneer of teaching language at the University of Maryland, and was an example of the intellectual and educational contributions of Latin American women to the intellectual development of the humanities at the University of Maryland.[6] Nemes began teaching at the University of Maryland in 1953 and remained until her retirement in 1989 as Professor Emerita in the Foreign Languages Department.[5] She continued her role as an educator after retirement, teaching classes and giving lectures at the University of Maryland until 2011.[6]

Dr. Nemes nominated Jiménez for the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he won in 1956. She became the major critic of Jiménez's works and was recognized as such by subsequent generations who benefited from her early work. The Zenobia-Juan Ramón Jiménez Foundation in Spain counted her as an honorary member. In 2004, a street in Moguer, Jiménez's birthplace, was named in her honor. On the 50th anniversary of Jimenéz's Nobel Prize, Dr. Nemes was invited to speak at no less than eight major conferences dedicated to Juan Ramón Jiménez and Zenobia Camprubí. Dr. Nemes delivered opening and closing plenary lectures throughout Spain, including Madrid, Huelva, Seville, and Moguer. She was one of the participants in the seminar that took place at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid and was interviewed by the media. She was also invited to a conference and panel presentation centered on Jiménez in New York that took place at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City; she traveled to Madrid and Moguer once more for the closing events of the three year long celebrations (2006, 2007, 2008) planned in honor of Juan Ramón Jiménez.[7]

Dr. Nemes was honored in 2006 with the Great Cross of Alfonso X El Sabio from the Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise.[7] Dr. Nemes joined a long list of scholars, writers, historian, and scientists who have also received this award, among them Mercedes Salisachs, Laín Entralgo, Joaquín Rodrigo, and Antonio Domínguez Ortiz. Nemes also received the Medalla de Mérito Civil (Medal for Civil Merit) from the Spanish government.

List of works

References
  1. Jiménez, por Fundación Zenobia-Juan Ramón. "Graciela Palau de Nemes, amiga y biógrafa del matrimonio Jiménez, cumple 100 años. - Fundación Zenobia - Juan Ramón Jiménez | Casa Museo". Retrieved Oct 1, 2019.
  2. Información, Huelva (Mar 29, 2016). "Una discípula de JRJ de 97 años". Huelva Información. Retrieved Oct 1, 2019.
  3. "In Celebration of Graciela Palau de Nemes: Critic & Educator – Celebration of Dr. Nemes' 100th Birthday". School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. University of Maryland. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. BRADY, JIM (1981-10-29). "Honoring Jimenez, Nobel Poet Who Loved Maryland". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  5. "Collection: Graciela Nemes papers | Archival Collections". archives.lib.umd.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  6. "Remembering Professor Emerita, Graciela Palau de Nemes | SCHOOL of LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, and CULTURES". sllc.umd.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  7. "Graciela Palau clausurará el congreso juanramoniano" [Graciela Palau Will Close the Juananmon Congress]. Diario de Jerez (in Spanish). Huelva. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
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