Federico García Lorca was born in the town of Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, on June 5th, 1898. A complete history of his life is somewhat cloudy since he never composed a biography, and his friends and relatives all give different accounts of his actual life. The fame surrounding Lorca is the result of a somewhat bizarre chain of events, not to mention his literary talent.
Lorca's first move towards literature started when he left his legal studies at the University of Granada. He transferred to the University of Madrid where he engaged in theatre and composed poetry. His first production opened at the Eslava Theatre in Madrid with the show The Butterfly's Evil Spell. His first book of poems, Romancero Gitano (The Gypsy Ballads) was published in 1928. This book was widely acclaimed and branded him with the name the "Gypsy Poet." He then moved to New York (partly out of annoyance with the name) where he wrote Poet in New York.
He then returned to Spain to form his own theatre group, "La Barraca." This group produced his three "Rural Tragedies," Blood Wedding (a story about a bride eloping with her lover), The House of Bernard Alba (a story about an oppressive mother, also believed to be his masterpiece), and Yerma (A murder of the sterile husband of a woman). His first theatrical success, Mariana Pineda, is a historical romance that famous painter Salvador Dali (rumored to be his lover) painted the set for. The works that he thought exemplified his writing were his surrealistic pieces, When Five Years Pass, and The Audience.
On the 19th of August in 1936 Falangist soldiers killed Lorca by shooting him. They then buried him in an unmarked grave and tried to destroy any memory of his existence. His name and books were banned, and naturally this sparked his fame. Lorca's death was one of the first, and most famous deaths of the Spanish Civil War, and as a result he became a martyr for intellectuals. Eventually, his name was again being said, and in 1950, one of his first plays was produced, The House of Barnado Alba. Although bans were still in effect in 1971, public outcry brought about the publishing of his complete works.
In the rest of the world, his work was largely ignored until the posthumous publishing of Poet in New York and plays such as The Public. After these works, his fame proliferated throughout the world and today, his works are published in 12 languages.