Federico García Lorca (1889-1936) was a Spanish poet and dramatist, born near Granada. He became known as a lyric exponent of the spirit of the Spanish gypsy, his finest work—Libro de poemas (1921) and Romancero gitano (1928)—being characterized by the primitive, melancholy tone of the gypsy cante hondo ("deep song"). His Oda al Rey de Harlem, written during a visit to the United States, reflects a similar interest in the spirituals of the American Negro. His plays, which ranged from extravagant farce to regional tragedy, include Mariana Pineda (1927), La Zapatera Prodigiosa (1930), Bodas de Sangre (1933) and Terma (1935). He was killed by nationalist insurgents at the outbreak of the Civil War.
