Salvador Espriu, Catalan Poet and Playwright, Dies at Age 72

Salvador Espriu, Catalonia’s best-known contemporary poet and playwright, has died of heart failure at the age of 72, hospital officials said.

Espriu, whose most famous poetic works include “The Songs of Ariadne” and “End of the Labyrinth,” enjoyed rare success for a Catalan-language poet in Spain. He was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1970 and 1980 and held the presidency of the International Assn. for the Defense of Threatened Cultures and Languages.