Noted Spanish author and intellectual Francisco Ayala, seen in 2006, has died in Madrid. He was 103. (Daniel Ochoa del Olza/Associated Press)

Celebrated Spanish author, sociologist and scholar Francisco Ayala — exiled from his native country for about 40 years after the Spanish Civil War — has died at the age of 103.

Ayala died of natural causes at his home in Madrid on Tuesday, said officials from his namesake foundation.

One of Spain's most esteemed intellectuals, Ayala was known for writing that explored themes such as power and the abuse of power, morality, history and the civil war that forced him from his homeland in 1939.

For his 100th birthday in 2006, Ayala was toasted by Spain during a yearlong tribute. This March, officials held another ceremony to mark his 103rd birthday.

Fled Franco's regime

Already a published author and lecturer at the outbreak of the conflict in 1936, Ayala remained in Spain for several years working for the government. However, when Gen. Francisco Franco brought his troops into Barcelona three years later, Ayala was among the many other Spanish intellectuals who fled.

Over the years, he worked in Latin America, including teaching and founding literary and cultural magazines in Argentina and Puerto Rico. He also spent years in the U.S., teaching in a host of colleges, including Princeton, Rutgers and New York University.

During his exile, Ayala published his most renowned works, including Los usurpadores (The Usurpers) and La cabeza del cordero (The Lamb's Head). He went on to publish about 50 titles overall, including his memoir, Recuerdos y olvidos (Remembering and forgetting), in 2005.

Ayala retired from teaching in the late 1970s, around the time Franco died, and returned to his homeland for good.

He was awarded the Spanish-speaking world's top literary honour — the Cervantes Prize — in 1991. Seven years later, he received Spain's equivalent of the Nobel: the Prince of Asturias Prize for literature.

Ayala's remains were to be cremated on Wednesday.

With files from The Associated Press