Max Aub
Biography
Max Aub was born in Paris in 1903. His father was German while his mother was French but of German-Jewish origin. His father became a travelling salesman, before settling down to business in Seville. The family moved to Paris where Max was born and he was brought up speaking French and German. When the war broke out in 1914, the family moved to Valencia as Max’s father could not stay in France, as he was a German citizen. Max soon learnt Spanish (and, later, Catalan) and the family all became Spanish citizens. He later joined the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) and then started writing avant-garde plays. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he was appointed a diplomat in the Spanish Legation in Paris and later returned to Madrid where he worked in the National Theatre Council. When Franco won the Spanish Cvil War, he went into exile to France but was arrested in1940 as a communist and sent into exile to Algeria. He then moved to Casablanca before going to Mexico. It was here that he was particularly active as writer, writing the bulk of his six volume Civil War series, El laberinto mágico (The Magic Labyrinth). He took up painting and even wrote a biography of Jusep Torres Campalans, an entirely fictitious painter based on himself. He continued to produce novels, stories, poetry and essays. He died in 1972. Sadly only two of his novels have been translated into English.
Books about Max Aub
Javier Quiñones: Max Aub
Other sites
Max Aub
Max Aub
Max Aub (in Spanish)
Max Aub (in Spanish)
Max Aub (in Spanish)
Max Aub (in Spanish)
Max Aub (in Spanish)
Max Aub y Francia: sorda, ciega y muda (in Spanish)
Fundación Max Aub (in Spanish)
Bibliography
1925 Los poemas cotidianos (poetry)
1928 Narciso (drama)
1931 Teatro incompleto (drama)
1934 Luis Álvarez Petreña (novel)
1935 Espejo de avaricia (drama)
1943 Campo cerrado (Field of Honour) (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1943 San Juan (drama)
1944 Morir por cerrar los ojos (drama)
1944 Diario de Djelfa (poetry)
1944 No son cuentos (stories)
1945 Campo de sangre [Field of Blood] (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1945 Discurso de la novela española contemporánea (literature)
1949 De algún tiempo a esta parte (drama)
1950 Deseada (drama)
1951 Campo abierto [Open Field] (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1951 Yo vivo (memoirs)
1952 NO (drama)
1952 La prosa española del siglo XIX (literature)
1954 Algunas prosas (stories)
1954 Las buenas intenciones (novel)
1955 Cuentos ciertos (stories)
1956 Tres monólogos distintos y uno solo verdadero (drama)
1957 Una nueva poesía española (1950-1955) (later: Poesía española contemporánea) (literature)
1957 Heine (literature)
1958 Jusep Torres Campalans (Jusep Torres Campalans) (novel)
1959 Cuentos mexicanos (stories)
1960 Obras en un acto (drama)
1960 La verdadera historia de la muerte de Francisco Franco y otros cuentos (stories)
1960 Poesía mexicana (literature)
1961 La calle de Valverde (novel)
1963 Campo del Moro [The Moor’s Camp] (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1964 El Zopilote y otros cuentos mexicanos (stories)
1964 Juego de Cartas (novel)
1964 Geografía (stories)
1965 Las vueltas (drama)
1965 Campo francés [French Camp] (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1965 Historias de mala muerte (stories)
1966 Mis páginas mejores (stories)
1966 Manual de historia de la literatura española (literature)
1967 Hablo como hombre (various prose pieces)
1968 El cerco (drama)
1968 Teatro completo (drama)
1968 Campo de los almendros [Field of the Almond Trees] (novel – El laberinto mágico)
1969 Últimos cuentos de la guerra de España (stories)
1969 Enero en Cuba (diary)
1969 Guía de narradores de la Revolución Mexicana (literature)
1970 Diario de Djelfa (poetry)
1971 Los muertos (drama)
1971 El desconfiado prodigioso, Jácara del avaro, Discurso de la plaza de la Concordia, Los excelentes varones, Entremés de”El Director”, La madre (drama)
1971 Versiones y subversiones (poetry)
1971 La gallina ciega. Diario español (diary)
1971 Pequeña y vieja historia marroquí (various prose pieces)
1974 Manual de historia de la literatura española (literature)
1974 Ensayos mexicanos (essays)
1975 Los pies por delante y otros cuentos (stories)
1982 Imposible Sinaí (poetry, letters)
1984 Conversaciones con Luis Buñuel
1993 Antología de relatos y prosas breves de Max Aub (diary selections)
1994 Enero sin nombre. Los relatos completos del Laberinto mágico (stories)
1994 Escribir lo que imagino. Cuentos fantásticos y maravillosos (stories)
1998 Diarios (1939-1972)
2002 Diarios
2002 Primer teatro (drama)
2003 Nuevos diarios inéditos: 1939–1972
2006 Sólo una larga espera. Cuentos del exilio republicano español (stories)
2013 Luis Buñuel, novela (biography)
2017 Trampas (aphorisms)