Calle de Carmen Cobeña

Carmen Cobeña first appeared on stage as a child, in 1878, and remained active until 1923. Born in Madrid in 1869, she trained with Rafael Calvo, a master of Romantic declamation, and with Emilio Mario, who moved her toward a more restrained, modern delivery. She became leading lady of the Teatro Español. Her career coincided with the moment Spanish theater was reaching for a more sober kind of acting. Cobeña premiered Galdós’s Los condenados and Casandra, played the Nora of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and performed Benavente’s texts, often directed by her husband, the playwright and sculptor Federico Oliver. The line stayed on stage: her daughter was also an actress and her grandson Jaime de Armiñán would carry the name into film and television.