He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja , son of his younger sister Carmen , was a well-known anthropologist.
The young Baroja studied medicine at University of Valencia and received a doctorate at the Complutense University in Madrid at Although educated as a physician, Baroja practiced only briefly in the Basque town of Cestona.
Baroja's true calling, however, was always writing, which he began seriously at the age of This trilogy also includes El mayorazgo de Labraz The Lord of Labraz , , which became one of his most popular novels in Spain. This group of texts is considered a milestone in the renewal of Spanish novels, particularly, a turning point in the transition between realism and modernism. Baroja is best known internationally for another trilogy, La lucha por la vida The Struggle for Life , โ , which offers a vivid depiction of life in Madrid's slums.
John Dos Passos greatly admired these works and wrote about them. Baroja also wrote the biography of Juan Van Halen , a Spanish military adventurer. The title is symbolic: the more the chief protagonist, Andres Hurtado, learns about and experiences life, the more pessimistic he feels and the more futile his life seems. In keeping with Spanish literary tradition, Baroja often wrote in a pessimistic, picaresque style.
Baroja's works were often lively but could be lacking in plot. They are written in an abrupt, vivid, yet impersonal style. He was accused of grammatical errors, which he never denied. While young, Baroja believed loosely in anarchism , like others in the '98 Generation.
