Ernesto Bark

Ernesto Bark
Born(1858-03-23)23 March 1858
Kaava, Laiuse, Russian Empire
Died24 October 1922(1922-10-24) (aged 64)
Madrid, Spain
OccupationsOpinion writer, journalist, political activist, language teacher
Signature

Ernst Moritz Heinrich Bark Schultz (23 March 1858 – 24 October 1922), also known as Ernesto Bark, was a Livonian writer, journalist and political activist based in Spain. He took part in the Bohemian scene in Madrid.

Biography

Born on 23 March 1858 in Kaava, Laiuse,[1] in the vicinity of Dorpart in Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Regarding his self-identification, aside from presenting himself as a Livonian, he declared to have three nationalities: "the German one from an ethnographic standpoint, the Russian one from a political standpoint (and unfortunately) and the Spanish one because of affection and love".[2] In any case, he also contextually self-identified as a Baltic German in his writings.[3] He even declared to be "Polish" on some occasions.[3] Pío Baroja dubbed him as a "Latvian revolutionary".[4] He took studies in Riga, Leipzig, Munich and Berlin.[5]

Involved in Baltic nationalist propaganda,[6] he founded the clandestine newspaper Der Baltische Föderalist in Switzerland in 1883, whose success reportedly led to a deportation to Siberia.[7]

He settled in Spain circa 1884 (after a previous brief stay in 1882).[8] He lived for a time in Alicante,[9] then in Madrid. He worked as writer for Germinal,[4] as well as correspondent for Köln Zeitung and National Zeitung.[5] He also earned a living in Spain as teacher of foreign languages. During his time in Madrid, he supported, along his friend Isidoro López Lapuya, Jewish immigrants coming from Russia.[10] A noted polemicist vis-à-vis his political activity, espousing republican-socialist ideas, Bark held feuds with Pablo Iglesias Posse and Juan Montseny Carret (Federico Urales).[5] A close acquaintance of Alejandro Sawa,[11] the character Basilio Soulinake in Ramón María del Valle-Inclán's Luces de bohemia is based on Bark.[12]

He became a member of the Radical Party circa 1910,[5] developing a close friendship with Alejandro Lerroux.[13]

Several tentative death dates, ranging from 1914 to 1924 have been reported in sources.[14] He actually died in his home in Madrid located at Calle de Ayala 57 on 24 October 1922,[15] as it is reported in several obituaries published in newspapers such as La Libertad[13] or El Liberal.[16] Instead of the Civil Cemetery, he was buried on the next day in the Almudena Cemetery following the Catholic rite professed by his wife Matilde Cabello,[17] with whom he had six children.[5]

He was the uncle[13] of Pyotr Bark, minister of Finance of Nicholas II from 1914 to 1917.

References

Citations
  1. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, p. 15; González Martel 2003, p. 704.
  2. ↑ Bark, Ernesto (1888). España y el extranjero. Madrid: Impr. La Publicidad. p. VII.; cf. Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, p. 15
  3. 1 2 Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, p. 15.
  4. 1 2 Philips 1985, p. 349.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Thion Soriano-Mollá 2005, pp. 131–141.
  6. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, p. 23.
  7. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 2012, pp. 905–917.
  8. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, p. 23; Thion Soriano-Mollá 2005, pp. 131–141
  9. ↑ Rubio Jiménez 2006, p. 148.
  10. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, pp. 304–305.
  11. ↑ Irigoyen 2009.
  12. ↑ Rubio Jiménez 2006, p. 147.
  13. 1 2 3 "Muerte de Ernesto Bark". La Libertad. IV. Madrid. 25 October 1922. ISSN 9968-4942.
  14. ↑ Thion Soriano-Mollá 1998a, pp. 53–54.
  15. ↑ González Martel 2003, pp. 704–705.
  16. ↑ "Ernesto Bark". El Liberal. XLIV (15.393). 25 October 1922. ISSN 2174-6648.
  17. ↑ González Martel 2003, p. 707.
Bibliography
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