Victoriano Crémer

Victoriano Crémer (18 December 1906 – 27 June 2009) was a Spanish poet, journalist and "official chronicler of the city of León, Spain."^[1] The Latin American Herald Tribune described Cremer as Spain's "longest lived poet" in 2009.^[1]

Crémer, born in Burgos, co-founded the literary magazine Espadaña (Bell Tower) with Gonzalez de Lama and Eugenio de Nora during the height of the Spanish Civil War.^[1] The magazine published work by poets including Blas de Otero, César Vallejo and Pablo Neruda.^[1]

Some of Crémer's best known works include Tiempo de Soledad (Time of Solitude), Nuevos Cantos de Vida y Esperanza (New Songs of Life and Hope), and Libro de Cain (The Book of Cain).^[1] Crémer won a Jaime Gil de Biedma Poetry Prize in 2008 for his writing, El Ultimo Jinete (The Last Horseman).^[1]

Crémer was admitted to a hospital in León in June 2009. He died in León, Spain, on 27 June 2009, due to complications of old age at the age of 102.^[1]

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, himself a resident of León, issued a condolence message in which he expressed "deep sorrow" and applauded Cremer whose literature guided Spain during "some very tough times in our history."^[1] Zapatero called Crémer a "cultural activist."^[1]

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