Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (1867-1928) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and political activist who became one of his country's most internationally celebrated authors. Born in Valencia, he founded the influential republican newspaper El Pueblo and led a grassroots political movement championing progressive ideals. His activism resulted in multiple imprisonments and periods of exile. Blasco Ibáñez's early works, including the novels The Cabin and Reeds and Mud, captured the vivid landscape and social realities of Valencia's countryside with masterful naturalistic detail. These works established him as a powerful voice for ordinary people confronting extraordinary circumstances. International fame came with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916), which became a bestseller in the United States and was adapted into a successful Hollywood film starring Rudolph Valentino. This success made Blasco Ibáñez one of the first Spanish authors to achieve global recognition and financial independence through his writing. A restless spirit who traveled extensively, Blasco Ibáñez spent his final years in exile on the French Riviera, continuing to fight political oppression in Spain through his writing.

He died in 1928, but his remains were returned to Valencia during the Second Spanish Republic, where thousands gathered to honor the writer who had given voice to their struggles and dreams.