Tag: history

The most interesting thing about any biography is to notice the coincidences that do not seem to be coincidences, and although there is often nothing we can do but identify them, their totality always seems to hold something revealing. There are events whose explanation is one hundred percent useless: the fact itself says more than any possible justification. And they mark, transform, determine, so that sometimes identifying them or not means understanding or not understanding.

It is always admirable when the historian or biographer manages to clearly show us the man behind the work. This is a very difficult task, full of pitfalls that can jeopardize any effort to understand. But when successful, it gives the reader invaluable material, not only in terms of the connection between life and work on which it depends, but also in terms of the larger picture of existence. We see there habits, beliefs, conflicts, ideas, predispositions, and whether we identify with them or not, we increase our arsenal of possibilities, we understand life better. In short, this material enables us to learn from the example of a real man.

In fact, we have to be very careful with a general history of anything, because it will necessarily hide more than it reveals. Of course, we cannot conclude from this that it is useless, but we must be aware that for each of the conclusions it may draw, there will be contradictory examples in the specific history of the events covered. So, while the tremendous effort involved in producing a general history cannot be overlooked, it is clear that the best history is always micro-history, and it is on this that any serious study should focus.

There are very few biographies in which there is not at least one moment in which an unforeseen external event positively changes the biographee’s situation. We always find it, although it is true that sometimes the change does not last. However, luck is there, allowing the change to crystallize and transform—which does not always happen. But it is curious to note that sometimes this event happens at the end of life, and we would assume that it is accompanied by the feeling that it has come too late. We never find this feeling and, privileged to be able to look at the whole biography, we conclude that it would be one hundred percent unreasonable.