From tejano to tango: Latin American popular music
By Walter Aaron Clark
Page 155
"The music [for "La golondrina"] was by Veracruz-born composer Narciso Serradell (1843-1910), with words by French poet Niceto de Zamacois and translated into Spanish by Francisco MartÃnez de la Rosa (Flores Longoria 1994, 28). The precise date of the song is uncertain, but it was most likely written a little before 1870 (Garrido 1981, 18)."
From La Destruccion de Pompeya (The Destruction of Pompeii)
By Niceto de Zamacois
On the biographical page it says (in Spanish): "Niceto de Zamacois was born in Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain in 1820."
French? Spanish? Which was he?
I guess we can trust the biographical page in the poet's own book (referenced above). The man who wrote the lyrics to La Golondrina must have been Spanish-born, not French-born.
It is goofy that there should be published confusion on this basic point.
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sj