Xesús Alonso Montero, the Spanish writer and academic who led the Royal Galician Academy, died Feb. 12, 2026. He was 97.
Montero spent more than six decades studying and defending the Galician language. As a researcher, he pioneered the use of sociolinguistics to analyze how people used the regional tongue in everyday life. He balanced his academic work with political activism, joining the Communist Party of Spain in 1962 and facing repeated punishment from the state during the country’s military dictatorship.
After earning his doctorate in Salamanca in 1966, he taught in Lugo, Palencia, and Madrid before becoming a full professor of Galician Literature at the University of Santiago de Compostela. His career reached a peak in 2013 when he was elected president of the Royal Galician Academy. He served in that role until 2017, overseeing efforts to preserve regional culture and history.
Montero authored dozens of books focused on the literary history of Galicia. Following his presidency, he continued his academic research and public advocacy for the Galician language until the end of his life. He is survived by his wife, Victoria Álvarez Ruiz de Ojeda, and his three children, Emilio, Xesús, and Sara.