Rosalía de Castro

Revolutionary Galician writer who revived regional literature and feminist discourse in 19th-century Spain

Rosalía de Castro (1837–1885) emerged as a seminal figure in Iberian literature by defying Castilian linguistic dominance through her Galician-language poetry. Her masterpiece Cantares Gallegos (1863) sparked the Rexurdimento movement, reviving Galician as a literary language after centuries of marginalization.

Breaking gender norms, she addressed female autonomy in works like Follas Novas, exploring themes of emigration and social injustice. Castro's hybrid identity – born to unmarried parents, straddling Galician and Castilian cultures – informed her unique proto-feminist perspective.

Modern scholars credit her with:

• Preserving 63 Galician folkloric traditions
• Inspiring Iberian regionalist movements
• Paving way for Hispanic feminist literature