Emilia Pardo Bazan (1852-1921) stands as perhaps the Spanish speaking world's greatest woman novelist. Along with Galdós and Clarín she was one of the three most important writers of late 19th century Spain. An intellectual of astounding breadth, she was the leading exponent of the Naturalist literary school in her country - as attested by her numerous theoretical writings on the subject - and was an outspoken feminist. Her many novels introduced Naturalism into Spanish literature. The Swan of Vilamorta (originally published in 1891) was among those about social decay in her native Galicia.