Fernando Arrabal (Terán is his second family name) is son of the painter Fernando Arrabal Ruiz and Carmen Terán González. On July 17, 1936, when insurrections within the military were staged against the constitutional government of the five-year-old Second Spanish Republic, launching the Spanish Civil War, Fernando Arrabal’s father remained faithful to the Republic. As a result, he was sentenced to death for mutiny. His sentence was later commuted to thirty years’ imprisonment. Fernando Arrabal Senior was transferred between prisons, from Santi Espiritu in Melilla to Monte Hacho in Ceuta, where he attempted suicide, as well as Ciudad Rodrigo and Burgos. Finally, on December 4, 1941, he was sent to the Burgos Hospital, on the pretext of being mentally ill. Later research has implied that he feigned psychological illness in order to be transferred to a lower security prison. On December 29, 1941, Fernando Arrabal Senior escaped from the hospital in his pyjamas, despite three feet of snow covering the countryside. He was never seen again, despite extensive researches carried out years later.

His son Fernando Arrabal has written: “Without trying to compare what is incomparable, when I confront these twilight episodes (and quite often without any logical connection), I often think of that scapegoat, my father. The day on which the Uncivil War began, he was locked up by his “compassionate companions” in the flag room of the Melilla military barracks. He was meant to think carefully, since he risked a death sentence for mutiny if he did not join them in their insurrection (alzamiento). After an hour, Lieutenant Fernando Arrabal summoned his ex-comrades — already! — to inform them that he had pondered long enough. Today, because of this precedent, must I serve as witness, example, or symbol, as he did, of the most fundamental occurrences? I, who am a mere exile. If I am taken away from my beloved numerics, everything around me leads to over-the-counter confusion and disorder. I have no wish to be a scapegoat like my father, I only ask to die while still living, whenever Pan so wishes.”

Meanwhile, in 1936, Arrabal’s mother returned to Ciudad Rodrigo with little Fernando, and soon found a job at Burgos, then the capitol of the Nationalists and headquarters of General Franco’s government. In 1937 Fernando was enrolled in a local Catholic school until 1940, when after the end of the Civil War, his mother moved again, to Madrid.

In 1941, Fernando Arrabal was awarded the national prize for gifted children. He continued his studies at Las Escuelas Pías de San Antón, a church school whose distinguished pupils over the years also included Victor Hugo and Jacinto Benavente y Martínez. Later Arrabal also studied at another distinguished Madrid establishment, Colegio Padres Escolapios De Getafe. An avid reader, young Arrabal was also eager to experience life.

In 1947, when his mother ordered him to attend preparatory classes for entrance to the Academia General Militar, Arrabal reacted by playing hooky. As a result, in 1949 he was sent to Tolosa (Guipuzcoa) where he studied business at the Escuela Teórico-Práctica de la Industria y el Comercio del Papel. By 1950, he began to write several plays which have remained unpublished.

In 1951 began work in the paper industry at la Papelera Española. He moved to Valencia where he passed his bachillerato, the first non-compulsory educational option in Spain for those wishing to go on to university. He later moved to Madrid, where he began legal studies. During these years he frequented the venerable cultural institution Ateneo de Madrid as well as poets from the Postismo school, while polishing his early play “Picnic” (then titled “The Soldiers”) and wrote “El triciclo” ( at first titled “Men With a Tricycle.”).

In 1954 he hitchhiked to Paris in order to attend a performance of Brecht’s “Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder” given by the touring Berliner Ensemble. in Madrid later that year he would meet Luce Moreau, who became his wife. In 1955 he was awarded a three months’ scholarship to study in Paris, during which time he lived at the Colegio de España at the Cité Universitaire. At this time he suffered a serious relapse of tuberculosis. He always considered this ailment as a “lucky mishap” which allowed him to move permanently to his “veritable homeland, that of Kundera and Vives, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Picasso: exile.”

Premier Prix International Théâtre du Millénaire (2010)

• Although he is one of the most controversial writers of his time, Arrabal’s work has been recognized throughout the world, with honors including the Grand Prize for Theatre of the Académie Française, the Premio Mariano de Cavia for journalism, the Nabokov Prize for novel writing, the Espasa Prize for Essay Writing, the World Theater Prize, etc.

In 2001, he was runner-up for the Premio Cervantes, nominated by Camilo José Cela and José Hierro. He was reportedly a finalist for the Nobel Prize in 2005, a prize which several institutions and personalities solicited for him. On July 14, 2005, he was named to France’s Légion d'honneur. In 2007 he was awarded a doctorate of letters Honoris Causa by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.Among his other honors include:

2008

• “Hijo adoptivo de Ciudad Rodrigo” (España).
• "Ciudadano de honor" Erlanger (Alemania)
• "Fronteira do Pensamento" con Bob Wilson, Wim Wenders, Philip Glass y Bernard Henri Levy. Porto Alegre (Brasil).

2007

• Prix Spinoza (Festival Teranova)
• Doctor Honoris Causa. Thessalonique (Grèce)
• Max de Honor, Teatro (Espagne)
• Prix Pasolini, cinéma (París)

2006

• Gran Prix d’Interprétation (Festival de Quend, film : « Avida »)
• Citoyen d’honneur de Spa (Belgique).
• Clés de la ville de Fontenay (France)

• 2005:
• Arrabal was decorated with the French Legion of Honor on July 14, 2005.
• Checa Association of Film Directors Prize. René Char Gold Medal, Avignon Festival.
• 2004
• First Panic Award, International Book Fair (Brussels)
• Francisco de Vitoria Prize (Puerto Rico)
• Wittgenstein Prize (University of Murcia)
• 2003
• National Literary Award (Spain)
• Gold Medal of San Fando (Buenos Aires)
• 2002: Gold Medal of the City of Avignon
• National Theatre Award 2001 (Spain)
• 2000: National Literary Prize (Spain)
• 1999: Alessandro Manzoni Poetry Prize (Italy)
• 1998: Prize of the Society of Authors (France)
• 1995: Officer of Arts and Letters (France)
• 1993: Theatre Prize of the Académie Française
• Since 1990, Arrabal has held the honorary title of "Transcendent Satrape" in the College of ’Pataphysics (Collège de ’Pataphysique). This group, founded in 1948 in homage to the French author Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) has named previous Transcendent Satrapes (“transcendents satrapes”) such as Camilo José Cela, René Clair, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, M. C. Escher, Eugène Ionesco, Michel Leiris, Man Ray, The Marx Brothers, Joan Miró, Jacques Prévert, Raymond Queneau, and Boris Vian. After Arrabal received this honor, other Transcendent Satrapes have been named, including Roland Topor, Umberto Eco, and Dario Fo.
• 1986: Fine Arts Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture (Spain)
• 1983: Chevalier of Arts and Letters (France)
• In 1982 Arrabal received the Nadal Prize, for "La torre herida por el rayo"
• 1976: Obie Award for Theater (New York)
• 1965 Lugné-Poë Theatre Prize (France).
• 1959: Ford Foundation Award with Italo Calvino, Hugo Claus, Charles Tomlinson, Günter Grass and Robert Pinget (New York).

• 1970 Viva la muerte; A co-production of Isabel-Films (Paris) and S.A.T.P.E.C. (Tunis), starring Nuria Espert, Ivan Henriques, and Anouk Ferjac.
• 1972 J'irai comme un cheval fou, (I Will Walk Like A Crazy Horse); produced by the Société Générale de Production - Babylone Films, starring Emmanuelle Riva, Hachemi Marzouk, and Clark Shannon.
• 1975 L'arbre de Guernica, (The Guernica Tree); produced by C.V.C. Communication, Federico Mueller, and Harry N. Blum; starring Maria Angela Melato and Ron Faber.
• 1980 L'odyssée de la Pacific (Pacific Odyssey), produced by Babylone Films, starring Mickey Rooney and Monique Leclerc.
• 1981 Le cimetière des voitures (The Automobile Graveyard), a co-production of Antenne 2 and Babylone Films, starring Alain Bashung and Juliette Berto.
• 1992 Adieu, Babylone! (Farewell, Babylon!) a production of Antenne 2-Cinecim, starring Lélia Fischer and Spike Lee.
• 1998 Jorge Luis Borges: Una vida de poesía, (Borges, a Life in Poetry) a production of Alphaville/Spirali (Italy), starring Lélia Fischer and Alessandro Atti.

In 2005 a 3-DVD box set of Arrabal’s most renowned films was released by Cult Epics including Viva La Muerte, I Will Walk Like A Crazy Horse, and The Guernica Tree.Fernando Arrabal (who has been awarded the Premio Pier Paolo Pasolini for his contributions to cinema) has written and directed seven feature-length films (released on DVD by Cult Epics and Wanda Films).

Several of Fernando Arrabal’s plays have been adapted for the screen, including Le Grand Cérémonial (directed by Pierre-Alain Jolivet); El triciclo (directed by Luis Argueta); El ladrón de sueños (directed by Arroyo), Pique-nique (directed by Louis Sénéchal), Guernica (directed by Peter Lilienthal), Fando et Lis (directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky), etc.

• “‘Viva la muerte’ is an absolute masterpiece, one of the most astonishing I have seen in my lifetime” (André Pieyre de Mandiargues); “Arrabal is ferociously original” (John Parrack, “Rolling Stone”); “An audacious, paroxistic, and artistically successful work” (Amos Vogel, “Village Voice”); “I prefer Arrabal to Fellini or Ingmar Bergman... he is to cinema what Rimbaud is to poetry.” (Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger, “Le Monde”).

On February 13, 2009 Arrabal’s opera “Faustbal,” to music by Leonardo Balada will have its world premiere at the Teatro Real de Madrid, staged by the Comediants of Barcelona. Arrabal explains: “Faustbal is a woman who, in the third millennium, is the reincarnation of Alfred Jarry’s Doctor Faustroll, a new doctor Faust who asks God and Lucifer for words and prayers so that love and charity might be unified. Nothing can satisfy the hurricane of her scientific curiosity, nor calm the storms of her desires. A genius, very beautiful, and enriched by her transports and transfigurations, she vows a torrid love for her Amazon. She leaps between galaxies while the war to end all civilization rages, and moves through space at supersonic speed. Confronting her, Margarito, supreme leader of the armed forces, dons the armor of brutal, electronic repression. He is madly in love with Faustbal under the sky’s cupola. He tries to possess her through the torrent of his tower, employing the services of Mephistopheles himself. Jesús López Cobos, music director of the Teatro Real de Madrid, will conduct the world premiere, which will be sung by sopranos Ana Ibarra and María Rodríguez. The mezzo-soprano Cecilia Diaz will sing the role of the Amazon, while tenors Gerhard Siegel and Eduardo Santamaría will be the two Margaritos, bass Stefano Palatchi will perform the role of God, and baritones Tomas Tomasson and Lauri Vasar will be Mephistopheles.

Four other operas with librettos by Arrabal have been staged, and the author describes them as “always having been as complex, yet suffering from as few complexes, as did Faustroll.” They are as follows:

• Apokaliptica, with music by Milo Kelemen.
• L’opéra de la Bastille, with music by Marcel Landowski.
• Picknick im Felde, with music by Constantinos Stylianou
• Guernica, with music by Ostfiend Busing.

In October 1985, Arrabal made his debut as an opera stage director at the Opéra Royal de Belgique, where he directed Falla’s “La vida breve” and Granados’s “Goyescas.” “Of course,” Arrabal comments, “under my direction the onstage chorus was nude, or to be more precise, panically covered with clay.”

In 1994 Chamber Made Opera produced the opera 'The Two Executioners'. Libretto by Douglas Horton and Music by David Chesworth. It ran for two seasons in Melbourne Australia 1994 and 1996 at the Matlhouse Theatre. "Easily the most impressive and memorable piece of music theatre in 1994..." The Independent Monthly. Australia.

Arrabal has created over seven hundred artists' books with Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Roland Topor, Julius Baltazar, Antonio Saura, Olivier O. Olivier, Maxime Godard, Jean Cortot, Camacho, Ralph Gibson, Enrico Baj, Gustavo Charif, Milan Kundera, Michel Houellebecq and many others:

• ’’1975 L'odeur de Sainteté, (Ed. Yves Rivière, Paris). With Antonio Saura. 2 copies.
• ’’1980 Cinq sonnets, cincq eaux-fortes, (Ed. André Biren, Paris). With Balthazar. 80 copies.
• ’’1991 Sous le flux libertin, (Ed. Robert et Lydie Dutrou, Paris). With Jean Cortot.
• ’’2004 Triptyque, (Ed. Menú, Cuenca). With Catherine Millet and Michel Houellebecq. 36 copies.
• 2008 Clitoris, poem with 56 translations (including the Czech version by Milan Kundera).

His books include:

• 1963: La pierre de la folie, (Ed. Julliard, Paris).
• 1965: Cent sonnets, (Ed. El Ultimo Parnaso, Saragossa).
• 1985: Humbles paradis, (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1993: Liberté couleur de femme ou Adieu Babylone, Poèmes cinématographiques, (Ed. Rougerie, Mortemart).
• Arrabalesques - Lettres à Julius Baltazar, (Ed. Rougerie, Mortemart).
• 1997: Diez poemas pánicos y un cuento, (Ed. Caja Sur y Rute, Córdoba).

“La Pierre de la folie” (ed. Julliard, Paris, 1963) and "Humbles paradis" (ed. Christian Bourgois, 1985).

Arrabal has published over one hundred plays in nineteen volumes, performed around the world. His plays include, with selected translations noted:

• 1952
• Le toit (unpublished).
• Le Char de foin (unpublished).
• La blessure incurable (unpublished).

• 1958
• Oraison (Ed. Julliard, Paris) (Plays, Vol. 1. (Orison, etc. Trad. de Barbara Wright, London, Calder and Boyars, 1962); (Orazione, etc., ed. Lerici, Milan, 1962).
• Les deux bourreaux (Ed. Julliard, Paris) (The two executioners, tr. Richard Howard, New York, Grove Press, 1960); (Plays, Vol. 1. The Two Executioners, etc., tr. Barbara Wright, London, Calder and Boyars,1962); (I due Carnefici, etc., ed. Lerici, Milan, 1962).
• Fando et Lis (Ed. Julliard, Paris) (Plays, Vol. 1. (Fando and Lis, etc.) tr. Barbara Wright, London, Calder and Boyars,1962
• Le cimetière des voitures (Ed. Julliard, Paris) (The Automobile Graveyard, tr. de Richard Howard, N. Y. Grove Press, 1960) (Plays, Vol. 1. The Car Cemetery, etc.). tr. Barbara Wright, London, Calder and Boyars,1962); (Automobil Kirkegaarden, Ed. Arena, Copenhagen, 1964).
• 1961
• Guernica (Ed. Julliard, Paris); (Plays, Vol 2. (Guernica, etc., tr. Barbara Wright. London, Calder and Boyars, 1967).
• Le labyrinthe (Ed. Julliard, Paris); (Plays, Vol 2. The Labyrinth, etc., tr. Barbara Wright. London, Calder and Boyars, 1967).
• Le tricycle (Ed. Julliard, Paris); (Plays, Vol 2., The Tricycle, etc. tr. Barbara Wright. London, Calder and Boyars, 1967); (The Tricycle. Tr. David Herzberger, Modern International Drama, 9.2., 1976, 65-91).
• Pique-nique en campagne (Ed. Julliard, Paris). (Picnic on the Battlefield, tr. James Hewitt, Evergreen Review 4.15, 1960, 76-90); (Pic-nic, etc. ed. Lerici, Milan, 1962); (Plays, Vol 2., Picnic on the Battlefield, etc., tr. Barbara Wright. London, Calder and Boyars, 1967).
• La bicyclette du condamné (Ed. Julliard, Paris); (Plays, Vol 2.,The Condemned Man's Bicycle, etc., tr. Barbara Wright. London, Calder and Boyars, 1967).
• 1965
• Le grand cérémonial (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (Plays, Vol. 3, The Grand Ceremonial, etc., tr. Jean Benedetti,. London: Calder and Boyars, 1970).
• Cérémonie pour un noir assassiné (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Cérémonie pour une chèvre et un nuage (Ed. Daily Bul).
• 1966
• Le couronnement (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Concert dans un oeuf (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1967
• L'architecte et l'empereur d'Assyrie (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (De Architekt en de Keiser van Assyrië, ed. Uitgeverij de Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, 1969); (Plays, Vol. 3, The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria, tr. Jean Benedetti, London, Calder and Boyars, 1970); (The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria, tr. Everard d'Harnoncourt and Adele Shank. New York: Grove Press, 1969); (Der Architekt und der Kaiser von Assyrien, ed. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Berlin, 1971); (O Arquitecto e o Imperador da Assiria, ed. Desta, Sao-Paulo, 1976).
• Les amours impossibles (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (Impossible Lovers, etc., tr. Bettina Knapp, The Drama Review 13, 1968, 71-86).
• Les quatre cubes (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La communion solennelle (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (First Communion, tr. Michel Benedikt, Modern Spanish Theatre, pp. 309—317. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1968); (Solemn Communion, etc., tr. Bettina Knapp, The Drama Review 13, 1968, 71-86); (Plays, Vol. 3, The Solemn Communion, etc., tr. John Calder. London: Calder and Boyars, 1970).
• Streap-tease de la jalousie (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (Striptease of Jealousy, etc., tr. Bettina Knapp, The Drama Review 13, 1968, 71-86).
• La jeunesse illustrée (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Dieu est-il devenu fou ? (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Une tortue nomée Dostoiëwsky
• 1968
• Le jardin des délices (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (Garden of Delights, tr. Helen Gary Bishop and Tom Bishop, New York, Grove Press, 1974).
• Bestialité érotique (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Une tortue nommée Dostoïevski (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Théâtre choisi (4 volumes en japonais) (Ed. Shichosha, Tokyo).
• 1969
• ...Et ils passèrent des menottes aux fleurs (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris); (And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers, tr. Charles Marowitz, New York, Grove Press, 1973).
• L'aurore rouge et noire (Groupuscule de mon coeur; Tous les parfums d'Arabie; Sous les pavés la plage; Les fillettes) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Le lai de Barrabas (Le couronnement), (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1970
• Happening at the Théâtre Plaisance in Paris in February (Grand-Guignol).
• 1972
• Ars Amandi (opéra "Panique") (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Dieu tenté par les mathématiques (opéra "Panique"), (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Le ciel et la merde (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La grande revue du XXe siècle (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1975
• Jeunes barbares d'aujourd'hui (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1976
• La guerre de mille ans (Bella Ciao) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Sur le fil ou la ballade du train fantôme (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1978
• La tour de Babel (Oyez Patria mi affliccion) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La marche royale (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Une orange sur le mont de Vénus (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La gloire en images (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Vole-moi un petit milliard, (Théâtre Bouffe) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Le pastaga des loufs ou Ouverture Orang-outan, (Théâtre Bouffe) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Punk et punk et colégram (Théâtre Bouffe) (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1979
• Inquisición (Ed. Don Quijote, Granada).
• 1980
• Mon doux royaume saccagé (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Le roi de Sodome (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Le ciel et la merde II (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1982
• L'extravagante réussite de Jésus-Christ, Karl Marx et William Shakespeare (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Lève-toi et rêve (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1983
• Le cheval-jument ou hommage à John Kennedy T.
• 1984
• Les délices de la chair (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La ville dont le prince était une princesse (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1985
• Bréviaire d'amour d'un haltérophile (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Apokalyptica (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La charge des centaures (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1988
• Les "cucarachas" de Yale (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• Une pucelle pour un gorille (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La madonne rouge (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• La traversée de l'Empire (Ed. Christian Bourgois, Paris).
• 1989
• L'extravagante croisade d'un révolutionnaire obese (Ed. Phi, Luxembourg).
• 1990
• La nuit est aussi un soleil (Ed. Actes Sud).
• Roues d'infortune (Ed. Actes Sud).
• L'opéra de la Bastille (opéra écrit pour le bicentenaire de la Révolution française).
• 1992
• Oeuvres Tome I, (théâtre, poésie, roman), (Ed. Spirali-Vel, Milan).
• 1994
• Lully, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• Entends la nuit douce qui marche, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• Le fou rire des liliputiens, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• 1996
• Comme un lis entre les épines, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• 1997
• Théâtre complet, (7 volumes en langue coréenne), (Ed. Coréenne, Séoul).
• 1999
• Lettre d'amour, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• Comme un supplice chinois, (Ed. Actes Sud).
• Théâtre complet, (2 volumes en langue espagnole), (Ed. Espasa, Madrid).
• 1997 and 2009.

By many estimates, Arrabal is probably the most performed living dramatic author worldwide. For a list of performances, see Arrabal’s official website.

• Fernando Arrabal has often described himself as a “frustrated painter.” He has produced around fifty canvases, a hundred or so drawings and collages, which have been exhibited in museums such as the Paris Art Center, Musée de Bayeux and the The Villa San Carlo Borromeo Art Museum, Milano.

• Is approach to painting consists of close collaboration with artists who produce large-format oils based on detailed sketches which he provides.

• In 1962, his first such painting was chosen for reproduction in the noted art publication, “La Brèche: Action Surréaliste Revue” by its founding editor, André Breton.

• Currently Fernando Arrabal is collaborating with the sculptor/video artist Christèle Jacob, with whom he has created a dozen videos and photomontage series, including “Les artilleurs des échecs et de la littérature” (The artillery corps of chess and literature), inspired by an artwork by Henri Rousseau (1909), and au “Rendez-vous du Corps des satrapes” (Meeting of the Satrap Association), based on a work by Max Ernst (1922).

Arrabal has a strong interest in chess and has attended many chess tournaments. He has close relations to American Grandmaster Gata Kamsky and has advocated for Kamsky in his chess blog during Kamsky's negotiations with FIDE (the World Chess Federation) over a match in the World Chess Championship cycle.

For over thirty years, Fernando Arrabal has written a column on chess for the French weekly L’Express.

• Echecs et mythes
• Fêtes et défaites sur l'échiquier
• Les échecs féériques et libertaires
• Bobby Fischer: el rey maldito