Lois Tobío Fernández

Lois Tobío Fernández (13 June 1906 – 13 March 2003) was a Galician diplomat, writer, and translator. He played an active role in the cultural and political life of Galicia during the Second Spanish Republic and later in exile.^[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tobío and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Lois Tobío Fernández
Born	{Birth date|1906|06|13}} Viveiro, Galicia, Kingdom of Spain
Died	March 13, 2003(2003-03-13) (aged 96) Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Education	University of Santiago de Compostela
Occupation(s)	Translator, writer, diplomat, philologist
Known for	Founder of the Seminario de Estudos Galegos
Spouse	María del Carmen Soler
Children	1 son & 1 daughter
Parent(s)	Lois Tobío Campos (father) María Tobío (mother)
Signature

Biography

Born in Viveiro to a family with ties to the Galician literary world, Tobío studied law at the University of Santiago de Compostela. There, he became involved in intellectual and cultural activities and co-founded the Seminario de Estudos Galegos (Seminar of Galician Studies),^[2] where he coordinated the Social, Legal, and Economic Sciences section.

Following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, he helped draft the Statute of Autonomy of Galicia (1936) along with notable Galician nationalists such as Ricardo Carvalho Calero and Alexandre Bóveda.

In 1933, he joined the Spanish diplomatic service and held posts in Bulgaria, Uruguay, and Mexico.^[3] During the Spanish Civil War, he remained loyal to the Republic and served in various roles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After the Republican defeat in 1939, Tobío went into exile. He lived in Cuba, Mexico, and eventually settled in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he worked as a journalist and later as an executive in a pharmaceutical company. He continued his cultural and political engagement through the Galician diaspora.^[4]

In the 1960s, he returned to Spain, where he continued translating and writing until his retirement.^[5]

Works

Translations

Tobío translated numerous works from German, English, and French into Spanish and Galician, including:

• The Life of Greece by Will Durant
• Narziss und Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
• Staatslehre by Hermann Heller
• Peter Camenzind and Henri Quatre by Heinrich Mann
• Os sonetos a Orfeu by Rainer Maria Rilke (1980, Galician)
• Nai Coraxe e mais os seus fillos by Bertolt Brecht (1987, Galician)
• Fausto by Goethe (1996, Galician)

Original works

• As décadas de T.L. (1994) – autobiography
• A nova vida (2006, posthumous)
• Catro ensaios sobre o Conde de Gondomar (1991)
• Gondomar y los católicos ingleses (1987)
• Gondomar y su triunfo sobre Raleigh (1974)
• A intervención de Gondomar nos problemas internacionais da pesca (1984)

Awards

• Trasalba Prize (1991)
• Arts and Letters of Galicia Award (1999)
• Medal of Honour of Viveiro (1997)
• Honorary citizen of Gondomar (posthumous, 2005)

Legacy

Tobío is remembered for his commitment to Galician culture and his role in the promotion of Galician autonomy and literature, both in Spain and abroad.