# Juan Ramón Jiménez
**Juan Ramón Jiménez** (Moguer, Huelva, 23 December 1881 – [San Juan, Puerto Rico](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-juan-puerto-rico), 1958) was a Spanish poet and the 1956 Nobel laureate in [Literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/literature), regarded as the acknowledged master of the new generation of poets in the 1920s and the author of *Platero y yo*[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Life | Born in Moguer, Huelva, 23 December 1881; died in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1958[2](https://www.diphuelva.es/memoria/contenidos/El-Nobel-del-Exilio/) |
| Nobel Prize | Literature, announced on 25 October 1956, "for his lyrical purity, which constitutes, in the Spanish language, an example of high spirituality and artistic purity"[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm) |
| Signature book | *Platero y yo* (1914), prose poems about a man and his donkey; more than one million copies by 1953 and 220 editions recorded by the Spanish National Bibliography[4](http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jrj/cronologia/default.htm) • [5](https://datos.bne.es/persona/XX826262.html) |
| Technical turn | *Diario de un poeta recién casado* (1917) abandoned traditional stanzaic structures for free verse[6](https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/j/jimenez_juanramon.htm) |
| Exile | Left Spain in 1936 at the outbreak of the Civil War; Cuba, the United States (Maryland), and Puerto Rico; never returned[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/) |
| Influence | Master of the Generation of '27 (Guillén, Salinas, Lorca, Alberti, Alonso, and Aleixandre)[6](https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/j/jimenez_juanramon.htm) |
| Legacy archive | His will split the Nobel money equally between the Sala Zenobia-Juan Ramón at the University of Puerto Rico and his house-museum in Moguer[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm) |
## Life: Moguer to Madrid
Jiménez belonged to the group of writers who, after Spain's loss of her colonies to the United States in 1898, staged a literary revival. [Rubén Darío](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruben-dario) helped him publish his first volume, *Almas de violeta*, in 1900[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/). Between 1905 and 1912 he lived at his birthplace, Moguer, writing *Elejías puras* (1908) and *La soledad sonora* (1911)[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/).
He returned to Madrid in 1912 and for the next four years lived at the Residencia de Estudiantes, working as an editor of that institution's periodicals[7](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Ramon-Jimenez). In 1916 he traveled to New York City, where he married Zenobia Camprubí Aymar, the Spanish translator of [Rabindranath Tagore](https://www.edgepedia.org/rabindranath-tagore)[7](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Ramon-Jimenez).
## The three poetic periods and what he changed
Most critics differentiate three epochs: the modernist period, culminating in *Platero y yo* (1914); the avant-garde period of "poesía desnuda" (naked poetry), which began in 1916 when he married Zenobia and ended in 1936 with exile; and the exile years in Cuba, the United States, and Puerto Rico[8](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/178089/julia.pdf).
**What changed in technique.** Later, white predominates, and the nakedness of white characterizes the brilliant, decisive epoch which includes what has been called the second poetic style of Juan Ramón[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/ceremony-speech/). [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic) crossing itself supplied the formal break: the constant movement of the waves gave him an obsession with rhythm and led him to abandon traditional stanzaic structures and cultivate free verse[6](https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/j/jimenez_juanramon.htm).
A 2023 peer-reviewed study frames the same project philosophically: for Jiménez, poetry's mission is to unveil the invisible hidden in the visible, searching the finite and temporal for the eternal and infinite[10](https://studiahumanitatis.eu/ojs/index.php/disputatio/en/article/view/2023-gutierrez-invisible).
## Platero y yo
*Platero y yo* (1914) is a collection of prose poems about a man and his donkey[11](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/juan-ramon-jimaenez). It was first published in Madrid by Ediciones La Lectura in an illustrated edition by Fernando Marco, and it brought him international fame[4](http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jrj/cronologia/default.htm). The book was originally conceived as a book of memories, not exclusively for children, but it can be read as a lyrical portrait of the poet's childhood in Moguer[4](http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jrj/cronologia/default.htm) • [17](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/platero-y-yo/).
Its worldwide reach is measurable. It was translated immediately into numerous languages; by 1953 editions totalled more than one million copies[4](http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jrj/cronologia/default.htm), and the Spanish National Bibliography records 220 editions under Jiménez's authority entry[5](https://datos.bne.es/persona/XX826262.html).
## Exile, 1936–1958
In 1936 the Civil War interrupted a projected edition of his works in twenty-one volumes, and he left Spain[1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/) • [9](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/ceremony-speech/). The exile lasted until the end of his life, spent in Cuba (three years), Miami, Maryland, and Puerto Rico[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm) • [1](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/). In Maryland, Zenobia taught in the University of Maryland's Department of Spanish and Portuguese between 1943 and 1951, later joined there by Jiménez as a professor[12](https://blog.umd.edu/mondinaire/2026/09/05/eclipses-de-juan-ramon-jimenez/).
He published *Animal de fondo* (1949), the last book of the exile period[9](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/ceremony-speech/). In exile he also began, between New York and Florida, the unfinished synthesizing poem *Espacio* (1939–1954), described as the master key to his lyric modernity[12](https://blog.umd.edu/mondinaire/2026/09/05/eclipses-de-juan-ramon-jimenez/).
## Zenobia Camprubí
Zenobia Camprubí Aymar, the Spanish translator of Tagore, married Jiménez in New York in 1916[7](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Ramon-Jimenez); the marriage coincides with the start of the intellectual period and the turn to "poesía desnuda"[8](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/178089/julia.pdf).
Her role in the Nobel was, in his own words, decisive. In his acceptance-speech manuscript he wrote: "My wife Zenobia is the true winner of this prize. Her companionship, her help, her inspiration of 40 years have made my work possible. Today I find myself without her, desolate and without strength"[13](https://www.teleprensa.com/andalucia/huelva/documentos-manuscritos-conmemoran-70-aniversario-nobel-juan-ramon-jimenez-muerte-zenobia/202610061517312525992.html).
## The Nobel Prize and final days
The [Swedish Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/swedish-academy) announced the prize on 25 October 1956, citing a lyrical work that constituted "a model of high spirituality and artistic purity"; the Spanish citation reads "Por su pureza lírica, que constituye, en lengua española, un ejemplo de alta espiritualidad y de pureza artística"[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm) • [13](https://www.teleprensa.com/andalucia/huelva/documentos-manuscritos-conmemoran-70-aniversario-nobel-juan-ramon-jimenez-muerte-zenobia/202610061517312525992.html). The nomination campaign had been initiated by Graciela Palau-Nemes, a professor and disciple of the poet, sponsored by the University of Maryland's Department of Spanish and Portuguese[12](https://blog.umd.edu/mondinaire/2026/09/05/eclipses-de-juan-ramon-jimenez/).
Zenobia died on 28 October 1956 at 16:00, three days after the announcement; her death conditioned the rest of his life and literary production[13](https://www.teleprensa.com/andalucia/huelva/documentos-manuscritos-conmemoran-70-aniversario-nobel-juan-ramon-jimenez-muerte-zenobia/202610061517312525992.html). His mental health had already broken before: a severe nervous depression, attributed to his condition as an exile and to intense work, led to internment in several Washington hospitals and the [Johns Hopkins Hospital](https://www.edgepedia.org/johns-hopkins-hospital) in Baltimore[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm); in 1949 he was hospitalized at the Washington Sanitarium[14](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/), and in 1957 he was interned in the Hospital Psiquiátrico de Hato Tejas in a grave state of abandonment, returning to the university a month later[14](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/).
In February 1958 he fell and fractured his right hip[14](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/). The two chronologies differ on his final days: the Instituto Cervantes record has him falling ill with bronchopneumonia on 26 May and dying minutes before five in the morning on 29 May, accompanied by his nephew Francisco Hernández-Pinzón[3](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm), while the house-museum chronology gives 29 May 1958 as the date of death[14](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/). The remains of both spouses were transferred to the cemetery of Jesús in Moguer[14](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/).
## Comparison: Machado and Darío
Jiménez and [Antonio Machado](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-machado) shared a krausist ethical and philosophical formation, read the same authors, and recognized Rubén Darío as their common master[15](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/antonio-machado-y-juan-ramon-jimenez-1199678/html/c0ffa227-18a7-471b-8ea2-db2abc5c8eb6_4.html). In his 1953 University of Puerto Rico course on [Modernismo](https://www.edgepedia.org/modernismo), Jiménez reproached *[Campos de Castilla](https://www.edgepedia.org/campos-de-castilla)* for its descriptivist excesses and its castellanismo, since he aimed at the universal rather than the national[15](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/antonio-machado-y-juan-ramon-jimenez-1199678/html/c0ffa227-18a7-471b-8ea2-db2abc5c8eb6_4.html). His admiration for Machado's ethics remained unbroken even while he rejected the Castile-themed poetry[15](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/antonio-machado-y-juan-ramon-jimenez-1199678/html/c0ffa227-18a7-471b-8ea2-db2abc5c8eb6_4.html). The same 1953 course contains numerous metrical comments that allow formal comparison between the great modernista works, especially between his own and Darío's[16](https://revistascientific.us.es/index.php/PH/article/view/2936).
## References
1. [Juan Ramón Jiménez – Biographical, Nobel Foundation](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/jimenez/biographical/)
2. [El Nobel del Exilio, Diputación de Huelva](https://www.diphuelva.es/memoria/contenidos/El-Nobel-del-Exilio/)
3. [CVC. Juan Ramón Jiménez. Cronología. 1937–1958, Instituto Cervantes](https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/escritores/jrj/cronologia/exilio.htm)
4. [CVC. Juan Ramón Jiménez. Cronología. 1881–1915, Instituto Cervantes](http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/jrj/cronologia/default.htm)
5. [datos.bne.es – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Biblioteca Nacional de España](https://datos.bne.es/persona/XX826262.html)
6. [Biografía de Juan Ramón Jiménez, Biografías y Vidas](https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/j/jimenez_juanramon.htm)
7. [Juan Ramón Jiménez, Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-Ramon-Jimenez)
8. [Time by Juan Ramón Jiménez, scholarly edition, Texas State University](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/178089/julia.pdf)
9. [Award ceremony speech, Nobel Prize in Literature 1956](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1956/ceremony-speech/)
10. [The invisible in the visible, Disputatio (2023)](https://studiahumanitatis.eu/ojs/index.php/disputatio/en/article/view/2023-gutierrez-invisible)
11. [Juan Ramón Jiménez, Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/juan-ramon-jimaenez)
12. [Eclipses de Juan Ramón Jiménez, Mondinaire, University of Maryland](https://blog.umd.edu/mondinaire/2026/09/05/eclipses-de-juan-ramon-jimenez/)
13. [Documentos y manuscritos conmemoran el 70 aniversario del Nobel, Teleprensa](https://www.teleprensa.com/andalucia/huelva/documentos-manuscritos-conmemoran-70-aniversario-nobel-juan-ramon-jimenez-muerte-zenobia/202610061517312525992.html)
14. [Cronología Juan Ramón Jiménez, Fundación Casa Museo Zenobia Juan Ramón Jiménez](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/cronologia-juan-ramon-jimenez/)
15. [Antonio Machado y Juan Ramón Jiménez, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes](https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/antonio-machado-y-juan-ramon-jimenez-1199678/html/c0ffa227-18a7-471b-8ea2-db2abc5c8eb6_4.html)
16. [Los comentarios de Juan Ramón Jiménez sobre métrica en 'El modernismo', Philologia Hispalensis](https://revistascientific.us.es/index.php/PH/article/view/2936)
17. [Platero y yo, Fundación Casa Museo Zenobia Juan Ramón Jiménez](https://casamuseozenobiajuanramonjimenez.com/platero-y-yo/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Poets › Modern European poets › Spanish and Portuguese poets*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026*
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