He was a philosopher, poet, and best-selling novelist.
Though he wrote in English and is considered an American philosopher,
he retained his Spanish citizenship throughout his life.
Santayana presents a remarkable synthesis of European and American
thought. His Hispanic heritage was shaded by his sense of being an outsider
in America.
His naturalism and emphasis on constructive imagination were harbingers
of important intellectual turns on both sides of the Atlantic.
Santayana lived eight years in Spain, forty years in Boston, and forty
years in Europe. He died in 1952 at the age of 89 years.
