Emilia Pardo Bazán e Italia

The comparison with European nations in the late nineteenth century (crisis of ’98) constituted an imperative for the majority of Spanish intellectuals trying to help a solution of socio-ecomic problems and problems of identity of their homeland. The eminent Spanish writer Emilia Pardo Basan’s passion for Europe is well known, together with her propensity for intellectual exchange with writers and politicians of other nations practiced mainly through travel and the writing of travel books which followed her journeys (especially through France, The Netherlands, Belgium). This paper contributes, with the input of data so far unpublished, to highlight, the thick network of relationships with leading figures of Italian literary society, both through travelling but also through correspondence (with Neera, Matilde Serao, Vittorio Pica, Vincenzo Capuana), the review of books, the sending of volumes, the attention to Italian literature in several Spanish and Spanish American journals, to which Emilia Pardo Bazan cooperated.