Relative of world-renowned writer Gerald Brenan donates 50 personal letters to Alhaurín library

Andrea Jiménez

Friday, 17 March 2023, 13:34

William Piper, a great-nephew of Gerald Brenan, has donated 50 handwritten letters by the world-renowned writer to the municipality where he died: Alhaurín el Grande.

Piper visited the municipal library, the space where the Brenan Foundation's archive is located, where he met the town’s mayor, Toñi Ledesma, to formalise the donation of the handwritten correspondence, which dates from 1961 to 1978.

The donation consists of personal letters written by Brenan while he was living in Cañada de las Palomas in Alhaurín el Grande and sent to his brother Blair, Piper’s grandfather.

“These letters are not full of revelations, but they give us clues about his personality, his attitude towards life and people, and clues that help us understand his legacy,” he explained.

Piper claimed he recalls meeting his great-uncle as a child during the 1970s, when Brenan was in his 80s. At that time, the Hispanist visited London about once a year.

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Ledesma, expressed deep gratitude to the Brenan family for giving the town and the Gerald Brenan Foundation the opportunity to enjoy these letters.

“For us it is a great satisfaction that they return to the place that Brenan considered his home,” she said.

Brenan's great-nephew also donated another 22 handwritten letters and 18 photographs to Malaga city council, which will be exhibited in the house that bears his name in Churriana.

“Some of those original letters, about 70, were among my mother's possessions when she died a few years ago. I feel happy to return them to Churriana and Alhaurín el Grande, where they were written, and where they belong; and where researchers of Brenan's books about Spain will be able to find their own clues about his work”, Piper said.