Born: 11 May 1916 · Died: 17 January 2002 · Age at death: 85
How old was Camilo José Cela when he died?
Camilo José Cela died aged 85. He was born on 11 May 1916 and died on 17 January 2002.
Nobel Prize-winning Spanish novelist and writer
Did you know?He served as a member of the Spanish senate and helped to rewrite the country's constitution during the transition to democracy.
Quick facts
Date of birth11 May 1916
Date of death17 January 2002
Age at death85
Cause of deathCardiovascular disease
NationalitySpanish
BirthplaceIria Flavia, Spain
Occupationwriter, poet, novelist
Editor's Take:
Camilo José Cela shocked post-war Spain with Pascual Duarte, the brutal confession of a peasant killer. The style became known as tremendismo for its harsh realism. The Hive painted hungry, gossiping Madrid in dozens of short scenes. Censors objected to it. Cela was a provocative public figure who enjoyed scandal. His record under the Franco regime, including work as a censor himself, remains controversial. Yet his prose transformed the Spanish novel.
Key Milestones
1942: Publishes The Family of Pascual Duarte
1951: Publishes The Hive
1989: Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
1995: Wins the Cervantes Prize
Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquess of Iria Flavia (Spanish:; 11 May 1916 – 17 January 2002) was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement.
