[145] _Egoists_ by James Huneker, New York, 1909, p. 143. By permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons. [146] _Those Europeans_ by Sisley Huddlestone, New York, 1924. By permission of G. P. Putnam’s Sons. CHAPTER XV TWO SPANISH DRAMATISTS--ECHEGARAY (1904), BENAVENTE (1922) The prize of 1904 was awarded one half to: Echegaray, José, member of the Spanish Academy, born 1833, died September 14, 1916: “in appreciation of his comprehensive and intellectual authorship which, in an independent and original way, has brought to life again the great traditions of the Spanish drama.”[147] Until recent years, Spanish literature has been less accessible by translation than that of many other European countries. Fiction by Galdós, Valera, Valdes, and Ibañez have given to English and American readers somewhat adequate impressions of the realistic power and poetic undertones of some of these latter-day novelists. In drama, three of Galdós’ plays, nine by Martínez-Sierra, a dozen more by Echegaray, and several by Benavente have been rendered into excellent English by such gifted translators as John Garrett Underhill, James Graham, Charles Nirdlinger, Hannah Lynch, Ruth Lansing, and others.[148] In the awards to Spanish dramatists of the Nobel prize in 1904 and 1922, two generations with their differing standards and literary methods, have been represented--Echegaray and Benavente. In German literature, as exampled by Heyse and Hauptmann, and in Polish fiction, with its representatives, Sienkiewicz and Reymont, one finds the same recurrent recognition in successive generations. José Echegaray, who shared the honor of 1904 with Frédéric Mistral, was born in Madrid in 1833; that city was his home until his death in 1916, except for periods of travel or retirement because of political friction. As Sully-Prudhomme found his first impulse towards science, so Echegaray studied mathematics “ferociously, ravenously.” He made researches, also, in geology and philosophy. Under the republican government he held public offices, like Ministers of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, President of the Council of Education, and Senator for Life. After teaching at the National Technical School, where he had been educated, he became identified with the University of Madrid.