Rafael Cansinos Assens

Rafael Cansinos Asséns (24 November 1882 – 6 July 1964) was a Spanish poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic and translator.

Biography Cansinos was born in Seville on 24 November 1882. Through his father's paternal line, he is related to the Cansino Family and Rita Hayworth.

Cansinos was a polyglot; he translated The Arabian Nights into Spanish, as well as the works of Dostoyevsky, and the complete works of Goethe for the publisher Aguilar. He was among the contributors of the Madrid-based avant-garde magazine Prometeo.

In the lectures he gave in 1967 at Harvard, Jorge Luis Borges mentioned him as one of his masters, and expressed wonder at the fact that he has been forgotten.

Works

Essays El candelabro de los siete brazos Psalmos ("The Seven Arm Candelabra: Psalmos"), 1914 El divino fracaso ("The divine failure"), 1918 España y los judíos españoles ("Spain and the Spanish Jews"), 1920 Salomé en la literatura ("Salomé in literature"), 1920 Ética y estética de los sexos ("Ethics and aesthetics of the sexes"), 1921 Los valores eróticos en las religiones: El amor en el Cantar de los Cantares ("Erotic Values in Religions: Love in the Song of Songs"), 1930 La Copla Andaluza ("La Copla Andaluza"), 1936 Los judíos en Sefarad ("The Jews in Sepharad"), 1950 Mahoma y el Korán ("Muhammad and the Koran"), 1954

Compilations Antología de poetas persas ("Anthology of Persian poets"), Bellezas del Talmud ("Beauties of the Talmud"), 1919

Novels La encantadora ("The lovely"), 1916 El eterno milagro ("The eternal miracle"), 1918 La madona del carrusel ("The Madonna of the Carousel"), 1920 En la tierra florida ("In the flowery land"), 1920 La huelga de los poetas ("The poets' strike"), 1921 Las luminarias de Hanukah ("The Hanukah Luminaries"), 1924