Concha Espina, born on 15 April 1869 in Santander, established herself as one of the most important writers of Spanish realism in the early 20th century. After her marriage to Ramón de la Serna y Cueto in 1892, she lived briefly in Chile, but returned to Spain in 1898, where she began her literary career. Her oeuvre includes novels such as La esfinge maragata (1914) and El metal de los muertos (1920). Espina received numerous awards, including the Premio Nacional de Literatura, and was nominated three times for the Nobel Prize (1926, 1927 and 1928). Despite going blind in later years, she continued to write with the help of a secretary. The Real Academia Española honoured her as the first woman to receive an honorary membership, although she was never formally accepted. Concha Espina died in Madrid on 19 May 1955 at the age of 86.