Ricardo Carvalho Calero - Ostracism and Eventual Incorporation To The University

Ostracism and Eventual Incorporation To The University

Following the Francoist revolt and start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Carvalho Calero becomes a volunteer combatant for the Spanish Republic, achieving the rank of lieutenant in the Spanish Republican Army. He was captured by the Francoists and convicted on the grounds of "secessionism" to spend sixteen years in the jail of Jaén (Spain). Yet, he was released in 1941. He returned to his natal city of Ferrol, where he had to work as a private tutor as he was banned from holding any public position, including teaching.

He re-established contact with the Galicianists and began his doctoral studies, eventually getting his PhD in 1955. This was later published in 1963 with the title Historia da literatura galega contemporánea ("History of contemporary Galician literature"). In 1958 he was invited to join the Real Academia Galega ("Royal Galician Academy"). In 1965 he was allowed to hold public positions again, and moved to the Galician capital Compostela where he would teach Galician language and literature at the Rosalia de Castro high school, while he started to also teach at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Finally, in 1972, he becomes the first ever university professor in the field of Galician Linguistics and Literature.

At that stage Carvalho Calero can be considered as the world expert in the work of poetess Rosalia de Castro. He also became an editor and publisher, trying to promote classic Galician writers.