Abel Murcia Soriano, the new director of the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest

Starting this autumn, the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest has a new director: the poet, translator and philologist Abel Murcia Soriano. He takes over the mandate from Jorge Jiménez-Zumalacárregui, who led the institution between December 2019 and August 2024.

Before taking over the management of the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest, Abel Murcia Soriano had two terms as director of the Cervantes Institute in Warsaw (2019-2024 and 2003-2008), one term as director of the institution in Moscow (2014-2019) and one as director of the Krakow branch (2008-2014).

“Bucharest and Romania represent both a professional and a personal challenge. A professional challenge, because when you work for a cultural institution like the Cervantes Institute you have the conviction that more can always be done in this mission of spreading the Spanish language and Spanish-language cultures in the countries where we operate, in the case of face, in Romania. Which is not to say that a lot hasn’t already been done. We cannot but be grateful to all those who have dedicated a large part of their lives – and who continue to do so – to the study of the Spanish language, to the study of our cultures, even long before the establishment of the Instituto Cervanes branch in Bucharest, ago almost 30 years. I believe, however, that there is still much to do: so many more bridges to build, so many areas to explore, so many reasons to enjoy together. It is also a challenge on a personal level because I consider that in order to appropriate – to the extent possible -, a universe, with its language, its culture, its cultures, with its history, it takes effort, an open mind, the desire to understand and learn. I hope that in a few years, when I will end my stay and my mandate in Romania, I will feel even richer in my soul because I will have succeeded in making this country, its language and culture a part of me”, stated Abel Murcia Soriano, the new director of the Cervantes Institute in Bucharest.

Abel Murcia Soriano is known both for his diplomatic career and his work as a translator from the Polish language. A graduate in Hispanic Philology at the University of Barcelona, ​​Abel Murcia Soriano has signed more than 50 translations, on the list of authors there are important names of Polish literature such as those of the laureates with the Nobel Prize for Literature Olga Tokarczuk and Wisława Szymborska, of the writer and playwright Tadeusz Różewicz or Stanisław Lem.

In the summer of this year, he was awarded the Transatlantyk Award, considered the most prestigious award given to “ambassadors of Polish culture abroad” – he is the first Spanish translator to receive this award, Abel Murcia Soriano being also an honorary member of the Association of Polish Writers. His rich activity as a translator of Polish literature into Spanish is complemented by that of the author of bilingual Polish-Spanish, Spanish-Polish dictionaries, both general and specialized. He is also the author of numerous articles on teaching Spanish as a foreign language. For several years, he was also a professor of Spanish at the Universities of Łódź and Warsaw, as well as at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo in Santander.

As a writer, Soriano Murcia has published nine volumes of poetry, in Spanish or bilingual editions (Spanish-Portuguese, Spanish-Polish, Spanish-Russian), his verses being translated into English, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian , Russian and Swedish. In 2008, a poetry and dance performance based on his poems opened the “Viva Flamenco” International Culture Festival in Spanish in Łódź.

Passionate about photography, Abel Murcia Soriano has exhibited in various individual and group exhibitions. His rich activity in the field of culture brought him several distinctions, among which we mention the Silver Medal for Cultural Merit from the Polish Ministry of Culture or the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Civil Merit in Spain.

The Cervantes Institute in Bucharest, opened in 1995, is one of over 90 centers on five continents of the Cervantes Institute in Spain, being the main place for popularizing Spanish culture in the capital of our country. Founded in Madrid in 1991, the Cervantes Institute, which bears the name of the legendary Iberian writer, has as its stated aim the promotion and teaching of the Spanish language and to make known the culture of Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. It is located on Queen Elisabeta Boulevard no. 38, in the Cișmigiu Hotel building, and has classrooms, a library, an auditorium and an exhibition hall.