Poet and journalist. In 1877 he won a award for his narrative poem “A Virxe do Cristal”. In 1880 he published the book “Aires da miña Terra”, seized after the writer was accused of heresy and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Eventually a higher court acquitted him. He became the editor of the newspaper “El País” (1887) and published “O Divino Sainete” (1888). In 1894 he emigrated to Cuba where he founded a newspaper that supported the autonomist movement. His remains were interred in A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). According to the contemporary press his funeral procession was watched in silence by thousands of people. He is regarded, together with Rosalía de Castro, as the originator of the Galician language revival in the 19th century.  (bio by: Manuel Comerma)