vicente blasco ibáñez was a spanish journalist, politician, and novelist. he was born in valencia, spain in 1867 and died in menton, france in 1928. he was a bestselling spanish novelist in various genres whose most widespread and lasting fame in the english-speaking world is from hollywood films that were adapted from his works. he was a particular fan of miguel de cervantes and was a militant republican partisan in his youth. he founded the newspaper el pueblo in his hometown, in which he developed a republican populist political movement known as blasquismo. he was a fan of miguel de cervantes and was known for his love affairs and political activism. he was also a volunteer as the proofreader for the novel noli me tángere.