Benito Pérez Galdós, a renowned Spanish novelist, was born in 1843 in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to a wealthy family. He was sent to an English school in the Canary Islands, and later attended the University of Madrid, where he studied law. Although he graduated with a law degree, Pérez Galdós never pursued a career in law, instead becoming involved in Madrid's literary circles and eventually securing a position as literary and drama critic for the magazine "La Nación".
Pérez Galdós had always dreamed of being a playwright, and he went on to write and publish numerous plays, many of which achieved great success and were later adapted into films. However, he soon realized that his true talent lay in novel writing.
Throughout his career, Pérez Galdós continued to write plays and novels while working for various literary publications, including "Las Cortes" and "La Revista de España" magazines. He eventually secured a position as editor of "El Debate". Following a visit to France, he embarked on what is considered his magnum opus, "Episodios Nacionales", a project that consisted of four series of ten volumes each and one series of eight books.
Each book was published at an average rate of every three months, in addition to his regular novels. Pérez Galdós was a lifelong bachelor and led a somewhat reclusive life, although he did travel extensively throughout France, England, and Spain. The general public knew very little about his private life.
As Pérez Galdós' eyesight began to fail him towards the end of his life, he became completely blind by 1912. Despite this, he continued to write, dictating his work to a secretary, until his death in Madrid in 1920.
