Benito Pérez Galdós was born May 10, 1843, in Las Palmas, Grand Canary
Island. The first school he attended was kept by English people; hence
perhaps his great admiration for the English. He showed an early and
lasting talent for music and drawing. In 1864 or 1865 he went alone to
Madrid to study law, which he disliked. He made slow progress, but
completed the course in 1869. Latin was his favorite study, and he never
practised law.
His first writing was done for Madrid newspapers; he reported sessions
of the Cortes, and wrote all sorts of general articles. During this
period he wrote two poetic dramas, never performed. His failure to gain
the stage turned him to the novel, and he did not again attempt drama
till 1892. Dickens and Balzac most influenced his conception of the
novel. His first book, _La fontana de oro_, was published in 1870; the
first of the _Episodios nacionales_, _Trafalgar_, in 1873. Since then
the _Episodios_ reached the number of forty-six; the _Novelas de la
primera época_ (those based on history rather than on observation),
seven; the _Novelas españolas contemporáneas_ (based on observation),
twenty-four; dramas and comedies, twenty-one; opera, one.
Galdós was never entirely dependent on his pen for his living; he always
had a slight income from family property. He never married. He traveled
all over Europe at different times, and made a special study of Spain,
journeying third class, in carriage and on horse, throughout the
country, always by day, and usually in the company of a servant.
Fondness for children was a distinctive trait. In 1897 he became a
member of the Spanish Academy. He was a liberal deputy for Porto Rico
from 1886 to 1890. In 1907 he was elected deputy from Madrid by the
Republican party, and retained the post for some years, but without any
liking for politics. In 1912 he became completely blind.
For many years he published his own works from the famous office at
Hortaleza 132; but handling no other books and cheated by an
unscrupulous partner, he finally had to transfer the business to a
regular firm. Galdós' novels have enjoyed an enormous sale, but at the
low price of two or three pesetas a volume, instead of the customary
four or five. In 1914 Galdós was represented as in poverty, for reasons
never made clear, and a public subscription opened for his benefit; an
episode sadder for the sponsors than for him. He died on Jan. 4, 1920.