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Joaquín Abatí was born to an Italian father and a Spanish mother. He studied law and, though licensed, he never practised. He published a book entitled Respuestas a los Temas de Derecho Administrativo (Responses to Issues of Administrative Law), intended to help those who had to deal with these issues. Curiously, he never managed to practise any of the principles although the book was helpful to many of those who had used his book. For this reason he decided to leave the legal profession and devote himself to literature, that appealed to him more.
Artistic career
Abatí's first play was the comic sketch Entre doctores (Among doctors), which premiered at the Teatro Lara in 1892. This was followed by works from simple monologues, humorous in nature, such as El Conde Sisebuto (The Sisebuto Count) and Las cien doncellas (The hundred maidens) to pieces with three or more acts, some in collaboration with Carlos Arniches.
He was a prolific author and achieved successes and produced more than 120 titles, resulting in him being regarded as a writer of the highest rank in his time. His works include El debut de la chica (The girl's debut), La conquista de México (The Conquest of Mexico), Doña Juanita (written in collaboration with Francisco Flores Garcia), Genio y figura (1910), No te ofendas (No offense), Beatriz (1920) (both with Carlos Arniches), España nueva (New Spain), El Conde de Lavapies (The Count of Lavapies) and La Viuda alegre (The Merry Widow).
He excelled in his role as author of operettas, a field in which he collaborated with other authors such as Carlos Arniches and Antonio Paso.
Several of his plays were intended as operetta booklets, such as Los amarillos (The yellow ones), a one-act piece, La corte de Risalia (The Risalia Court) in two acts, La mujer artificial (The artificial woman), La mulata (The mulatto woman) and his most famous work, El asombro de Damasco (The wonder of Damascus), which he wrote in collaboration with Antonio Cano Paso and to which Maestro Pablo Luna put music and premiered it in 1916.
Legal career
Abatí returned to practising law and became professor at the Real Academia de Jurisprudencia y Legislación.
Joaquín Abatí died in Madrid in 1936.
Operettas and lyrical works
1899– Los Besugos (the Breams) (Emilio Mario; Music, Valverde)
1900– Los Amarillos (the Yellow ones) (Francisco Flores García; Music, Saco del Valle)
1901– Tierra por medio (Through) (Sinesio Delgado; Music, Chapí)
El Código penal (The penal code) (Eusebio Sierra; Music, Tomás Barrera)
1904– El Trébol (The Clover) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Serrano)
1905– La Mulata (The Mulatto) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Valverde)
1906– La Marcha real (The Royal March) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Vives)
La Taza de thé (The cup of tea) (Antonio Paso Cano y Maximiliano Thous; Music, Lleó)
El Aire (The air) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó y Mariani)
1907– La Hostería del Laurel (The Laurel Inn) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó)
1908– Mayo florido (May flower) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó)
1909– Los Hombres alegres (The happy men) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó)
Los Perros de presa (Attack dogs) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, López Torregrosa)
1910– La Partida de la porra (The Departure of the baton) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó)
Los Viajes de Gullivert (Gulliver's travels) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Giménez)
Mea Culpa (My fault) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Lleó)
1911– La Gallina de los huevos de oro (The hen that lays golden eggs) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, Vives)
El Verbo amar (The word love) (Antonio Paso Cano; Music, López Torregrosa)