Logroño, Apr 3 (EFE).- The Government of La Rioja has acquired, for 500,000 euros, the family archive of the La Rioja writer María de la O Lejárraga García, which includes belongings, correspondence and manuscripts of published and unpublished works, among others documents of “incalculable historical and cultural value”.
The announcement was made this Monday by the president of the La Rioja Government, Concha Andreu, during the presentation of the Strategic Plan for Culture 2023-2026 of La Rioja.
The agreement on the family archive between the Executive of La Rioja and the great-nephew of María de la O Lejárraga García, Antonio González, includes letters between her husband and politicians, as well as between this artist and characters such as Manuel de Falla, Juan Ramón Jiménez , Santiago Rusiñol and Joaquín Turina, has detailed Andreu.
He explained that, along with “these documents, of incalculable historical and cultural value, there are also personal belongings of the author, such as paintings that belonged to her and her own personal trousseau, with crochet works made by herself and furniture.”
The president of the Government of La Rioja has specified that, “even though the expert appraisals showed a value of between 600,000 and 670,000 euros, an economic agreement has been reached for 500,000 of the price of the file, since the rest is acquired by the Autonomous Community through title of donation.
“The patrimony of María de la O Lejárraga García (San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja, 1874-Buenos Aires 1974) will be deposited in a physical space to be determined in facilities of the La Rioja Administration, in order to proceed to its total exhibition or partial in various exhibitions and events in the coming months ”, he stressed.
Previously, he has reported, “a first cataloging of the materials that are acquired will be carried out and, currently, the Government of La Rioja is in talks with the National Library to make a monographic exhibition on Lejárraga in Madrid.”
María de la O Lejárraga García was a Spanish writer and feminist, better known as María Martínez Sierra, a pseudonym she adopted from the surnames of her husband, Gregorio Martínez Sierra, and under whose name she wrote much of her work.