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Jaime Gómez-Acebo y Modet

1897–1977

Born
8 Aug 1897, Gipuzkoa
Country of birth
Spain
Died
31 Mar 1977, Madrid
facts
4
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth8 Aug 1897, GipuzkoaProbable1 source
  • Death31 Mar 1977, MadridProbable1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Gipuzkoa

    Birth, Gipuzkoa

  2. Child born: Luis Gómez-Acebo y Duque de Estrada, Vizconde de la Torre

    Birth, Madrid

  3. Died · Madrid

    Death, Madrid

What was it like?

The world around Gipuzkoa, 1897: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Jaime was born the same year as Frank Capra, Fredric March, and Marian Anderson.

Born the same year

  • Frank Capra

    Italian-born American film director (1897–1991)

  • Fredric March

    American actor (1897–1975)

  • Marian Anderson

    African-American contralto (1897–1993)

  • Paavo Nurmi

    Finnish middle and long distance runner (1897–1973)

  • William Faulkner

    American writer (1897-1962)

  • Amelia Earhart

    American aviation pioneer and author (1897–1939)

Fashion
Around 1890–1890

Segovian festive wool and velvet skirt

A Segovian festive skirt was made of red Merino wool and featured horizontal bands of black patterned velvet.

Around 1890–1890

Sounding trousers of Jaén cart drivers

Men in Jaén, known as chirris, wore trousers with metal-buttoned side openings that produced a distinct sound while walking.

Music
Around 1900–1905

Phonographs brought music to the home

Between 1898 and 1905, phonographs became accessible entertainment at inns, civic centers, and private homes for the working class.

Musical experts in social settings

In small social gatherings, those who could play string instruments like the violin, guitar, bandurria, or lute were considered the musical experts of the group.

Getting around

Long hours for stagecoach travel

A journey by stagecoach between Manzanares and Granada took 30 hours, while a mule-drawn diligence trip from Granada to Jaen lasted nine hours.

Road travel was frequently at walking pace

Road conditions were often so poor that mule-drawn omnibuses could travel no faster than a walking pace, sometimes requiring passengers to disembark while drivers repaired the road with stones.

Daily life

Cramped living conditions in urban homes

Working-class homes often featured cramped, poorly lit rooms with little ventilation, frequently lacking basic amenities like internal toilets or running water. Households relied on simple furniture, oil lamps for lighting, and portable braziers or stoves for warmth.

Irregular school attendance due to child labor

Schooling was mandatory for children aged 6 to 9, yet attendance was often irregular as children were frequently pulled out of class to work, perform household chores, or care for younger siblings. Some families struggled to pay for necessities, leading to chronic absenteeism despite legal requirements.

Food

Common dishes for ordinary families

Ordinary families relied on simple meals like puchero, a slow-boiled stew of chickpeas, potatoes, and sometimes meat, or gazpacho, a cold vegetable soup with bread and oil. Breakfast for many working-class people was often just a jicara of chocolate with a roll.

Dietary differences among social classes

While the wealthy ate fine dishes like partridge or sea bream in new modern restaurants, humble households commonly consumed fasting potage, pickled sardines, cod, and potatoes. Poor families often ate very little meat, reserving it for special occasions, while bread and wine remained central to their diet.

Prices and wages

Daily wages for workers and laborers

At the end of the 19th century, a skilled worker could earn 12 reales per day, while a common laborer earned about 6 reales. Women and children typically earned less than half or a third of that amount.

Household spending priorities

Ordinary families spent approximately 70 percent of their income on food alone. Housing accounted for another 10 percent of their monthly budget, leaving very little for clothing and other expenses.

Work

Cost of Living Expenditure

Workers typically spent 70% of their monthly income on food and another 10% on housing, often living in overcrowded conditions.

Daily Wages for Workers

Daily wages varied widely, ranging from 6 réis for a common laborer to 12 réis for a skilled worker, with women and children earning significantly less.

News and letters

High cost of early telegrams

Sending a telegram was initially expensive, costing 313 reales at a time when a telegrapher's annual salary was 4,000 reales. By 1861, prices became more accessible, dropping to approximately five reales per message.

Inefficiencies in rural mail delivery

While diligences traveled at an average of 15 kilometers per hour, rural areas like Teruel suffered from significant mail delays, with letters arriving four to six days late despite short travel times for passengers.

During their lifetime

  1. 1898

    1898: Spain loses overseas colonies

    In 1898, the Spanish-American War resulted in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, deeply affecting the national psyche.

  2. 1900

    1900 Work Accident Law established employer responsibility

    The 1900 Work Accident Law made employers legally responsible for workplace accidents, marking a major shift in labor rights.

  3. 1918

    1918 flu epidemic ends urban death cycles

    The 1918 flu pandemic was the last major epidemic to severely impact urban life, after which cities began growing through natural increase.

  4. 1919

    1919 8-hour workday institutionalized after strike

    Following the 1919 La Canadiense strike, the government institutionalized the 8-hour workday, significantly altering labor conditions.

  5. 1919

    1919 Madrid Metro opens urban transit expansion

    The Madrid Metro opened in 1919, eventually transporting nearly 100 million passengers annually by 1929 and transforming urban mobility.

  6. 1950

    Tourism industry boom 1950-1970

    The annual number of tourists visiting Spain skyrocketed from less than half a million in 1950 to over 20 million by 1970.

Family

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.