Background
Graña was born in Peru, a descendant of immigrants from Andalusia, and studied at the University of San Marcos in Lima.
Graña was born in Peru, a descendant of immigrants from Andalusia, and studied at the University of San Marcos in Lima.
In 1942 he emigrated to the United States, where he studied at Brown, Duke, and the University of California (University of California), from which he received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1957.
He taught at the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Chicago College, the University of Illinois, University of California Davis, University of California Santa Cruz and, from 1972, University of California San Diego. Graña authored works on problems of national identity in Latin America, Nineteenth Century French bohemia, and works on the sociology of literature and art His 1964 book Bohemian versus Bourgeois (also known as Modernity and its Discontents) is still considered an important work.
Graña was married to Pauline Graña with whom he had two daughters.
He died in a car accident on the highway between Seville and Cadiz.