1891–1967
Theatre director active in Republican diplomacy
His 1941 play ¿Qué quiere decir Irene? depicts figures fighting in the name of peace. Diplomatic experience became material for drama about war and non-intervention.
Spanish theatre director, playwright, and Republican diplomat. A brother-in-law of Manuel Azaña, he promoted theatre training and stage experimentation and served as consul-general in Geneva during the civil war. His diplomacy became entangled in tensions between the president and the government. Arrested while exiled in France and imprisoned in Spain, he later resumed theatrical work in Mexico.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1910Studied at the universities of Valladolid and Madrid, earned a law degree, and pursued doctoral study at the Spanish College in Bologna.
- 1917Directed Unamuno's Fedra at the Ateneo de Madrid, his first work as a stage director.
- 1928–1929Led El Caracol, his experimental theatre company at the Rex hall in Madrid.
- 1930–1935Directed and served as literary adviser in Margarita Xirgu's company, jointly running Madrid's Teatro Español.
- 1932Founded the Teatro Experimental del Español, a theatre school within the Teatro Español.
- 1934Was granted the Teatro María Guerrero and founded the Teatro Escuela de Arte (TEA) there.
- 1936–1939Served as consul-general in Geneva and was caught up in the theft of Azaña's private diaries.
- 1940sWas arrested in France and taken to Spain, sentenced to death by a Francoist court, then had the sentence commuted to thirty years and passed through several prisons.
- 1947After his release he went into exile in Mexico and resumed directing theatre and lecturing.
- 1953–1967Continued directing and lecturing in Mexico and Guatemala and died in Mexico in 1967.
Geneva diplomacy and the theatre of peace
Rivas Cherif’s Geneva activities reveal that Republican diplomacy did not speak with one voice. His familial and political closeness to Azaña, government instructions, and personal judgments about international mediation could conflict. Chapter 9 of Untold Stories of the Spanish Civil War critically assesses how his independent initiatives weakened foreign-policy coherence.
The chapter also reads his theatre alongside that diplomatic experience. In ¿Qué quiere decir Irene?, the appeals of a figure associated with peace are not properly heard. Other characters invoke peace while fighting or pursuing their own interests. The device implicates bystanders as well as those who wage war, connecting diplomatic frustration with theatrical satire.