Ramón Xirau Biography | Poet

Ramon Xirau Subias (Spanish:  [ra'mon i'au], Catalan:  [r'mo i'aw] ) (born in Barcelona, Spain on 20 January 1924) is a Mexican poet, philosopher and literary critic. In 1939, shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, he emigrated to Mexico where he obtained Mexican citizenship in 1955. He obtained a Master's Degree in philosophy at the UNAM and an honorary doctorate from the Universidad de las Américas, he is an emeritus research faculty member of the UNAM y and the National System of Researchers. At the UNAM he has taught at the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature and has done research at the Institute of Philosophy Research. He is a member of the Colegio Nacional since 1973. He received the Legion of Honour from France and the Isabel la Católica from Spain awards as well as the Cruz de Saint Jordi from the Generalitat of Catalonia for his works in essay and academics in Spanish and Catalan literature. He has also received the Elías Sourasky and the Premio Universidad Nacional awards at the UNAM. Professor Xirau is mostly known in the English speaking world as the co-author of The Nature of Man along with Erich Fromm (Macmillan 1968, ISBN 0-02-084960-5 ).