Ildefonso Falcones

{{short description|Spanish lawyer and writer}} {{family name hatnote|Falcones|de Sierra|lang=Spanish}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Ildefonso Falcones | image = Ildefonso Falcones en la Iglesia de Santa Maria del Mar.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Ildefonso Falcones in the church of Santa Maria del Mar in 2008. | pseudonym = | birth_name = Ildefonso Falcones de Sierra | birth_date = 1959 | birth_place = Barcelona, Spain | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Author and lawyer | language = Spanish | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = Historical fiction | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }}

'''Ildefonso Falcones de Sierra''' (born 1959) is a Spanish lawyer and writer from Barcelona.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.catalannews.com/culture/item/ildefonso-falcones-if-cathedral-of-the-sea-had-not-been-published-i-could-not-have-done-the-same-effort-again |title=Ildefonso Falcones: If 'Cathedral of the Sea' had not been published, I could not have done the same effort again |newspaper=Catalan News |publisher=Agència Catalana de Notícies |date=14 February 2013 |last1=Roig |first1=Clara |last2=Cavaller |first2=Paco |access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref> He is best known for writing the best-seller ''Cathedral of the Sea.''

== Biography == Ildefonso Falcones is the son of a lawyer and homemaker. He had a career as a horseback rider at the age of 17, becoming the Junior Champion of Spain in show jumping, as well as excelling in field hockey. His career in sports ended with his father's death that same year. He studied at the College of San Ignacio's Jesuits in Spain. After which, he began his university studies, attempting to earn degrees in economics and law. He eventually decided to drop his studies in economics to balance his studies of law with a job at a bingo in Barcelona.

He currently practices law at his own law firm, located in the Eixample district of Barcelona. And although he previously started his work in literature, for the past few years he has had to balance his work with his passion for writing books. It took him 5 years to finish his first novel.

He became famous with the historical thriller ''Cathedral of the Sea'', published in 2006, and set in 14th century Barcelona.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2007/01/27/ildefonso-falcones-de-sierra.html |title=Ildefonso Falcones Sierra |language=it |date=27 January 2007 |access-date=10 May 2018 |last=Fiori |first=Simonetta |newspaper=La Repubblica |publisher=Divisione Stampa Nazionale |agency=GEDI Gruppo Editoriale S.p.A.}}</ref> His second novel, ''La mano de Fátima'' (2009), deals with the Morisco revolt and later expulsion of the Moriscos.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/cultura/20090426/53690534099/ildefonso-falcones-novela-la-expulsion-de-los-moriscos.html|website=La Vanguardia|title=Ildefonso Falcones novela la expulsión de los moriscos|date=26 April 2009|first=Sergio|last=Vila-Sanjuán|author-link=Sergio Vila-Sanjuán}}</ref> His third novel was ''La reina descalza'' (2013), set in between Seville and Madrid in the 18th century, follows the interwoven lives of two women (a former slave from Cuba and a gypsy from Triana) with the Great Gypsy Round-up, as a backdrop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sevilla.abc.es/cultura/libros/20130306/sevi-ildefonso-falcones-novela-201303052020.html|website=ABC|title=Los gitanos de Sevilla protagonizan «La reina descalza», de Ildefonso Falcones|date=6 March 2013|first=Andrés|last=González Barba}}</ref> His fourth novel, ''Los herederos de la tierra'', is a continuation to ''La catedral del mar''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/cataluna/2016/09/08/57d186dae2704e6c518b457c.html|website=El Mundo|title=La 'herencia' de Falcones|first=Matías|last=Néspolo|date=8 September 2016}}</ref> His fifth novel, ''El pintor de almas'' (2019), set in the mired by social conflict early 20th-century Barcelona, follows the life of an artist and his uneasy relation with an anarchist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elcultural.com/el-pintor-de-almas|website=El Cultural|title=El pintor de almas|date=7 October 2019|first=Jesús|last=Nieto Jurado}}</ref>

In 2015, Ildefonso Falcones was accused of defrauding the Spanish Treasury of 1,4 million euros between 2009 and 2011 by transferring the copyrights of his works to companies based outside of Spain.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elmundo.es/cataluna/2015/06/25/558c03bce2704e2d728b4585.html |title=Imputan al 'best-seller' Ildefonso Falcones por defraudar 1,4 millones |newspaper=El Mundo |author=EFE |author-link=EFE |date=25 June 2015 |location=Barcelona |access-date=10 May 2018 |language=es |publisher=Unidad Editorial Información General S.L.U.}}</ref> In 2016, the case was dismissed when the judge considered that the sale of the copyright for his first novel was in 2004, two years before its editorial success, showing that there was no intent to commit a "fraudulent and malicious manoeuver by said action".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.elmundo.es/cataluna/2016/03/08/56df4384268e3e6c478b45a1.html |title=Archivan la causa contra Ildefonso Falcones por fraude a Hacienda |newspaper=El Mundo |last=González |first=Germán |location=Barcelona |date=9 March 2016 |access-date=10 May 2018 |language=es |publisher=Unidad Editorial}}</ref> However, by February 2018 he was facing those charges again, which could attract a prison sentence up to 9 years.<ref>[https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/02/13/actualidad/1518553837_978574.html El fiscal pide 9 años de cárcel para el escritor Ildefonso Falcones por fraude fiscal], en ''El País''</ref> The charges were cancelled in November 2019, described by the judge as "absurd charges".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-22 |title=Absuelto de fraude a Hacienda Ildefonso Falcones |url=https://www.abc.es/espana/catalunya/abci-absuelto-fraude-hacienda-ildefonso-falcones-202111221344_noticia.html |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Diario ABC |language=es}}</ref>

== Views and positions == From an ideological standpoint, he has voiced himself as a supporter of the People's Party (PP). He supported Mariano Rajoy in 2008, the then PP's prime ministerial candidate vis-à-vis the 2008 general election, in a political act at the Santa Maria del Mar church together with other leaders of the People's Party of Catalonia, like Dolors Nadal and Daniel Sirera.

== Books == * ''La catedral del mar'' (2006) * ''{{ill|La mano de Fátima|es|La mano de Fátima (novela)}}'' (2009) * ''La reina descalza'' (2013) * ''{{ill|Los herederos de la tierra|es}}'' (2016) * ''El pintor de almas'' (2019) * ''Esclava de la libertad'' (2022)

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcones, Ildefonso}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Writers from Barcelona Category:Spanish male writers