Salomón de la Selva

Salomón de la Selva
Born March 20, 1893
León Nicaragua
Died 1959
Paris, France
Occupation poet and honorary

Salomón de la Selva born in León Nicaragua on March 20, 1893 and died in Paris, France on February 5, 1959 was a Nicaraguan poet and honorary member of the Mexican Academy of Language.

Biography

Salomón de la Selva was born on March 20, 1893 in León, Nicaragua, son of Salomón Selva a lawyer who had fought against the dictator José Santos Zelaya. When he was barely 12 years old his father was imprisoned and Salomón presented himself to President Zelaya during a visit to León and gave him a speech reminding him of human rights and those of a citizen which was enjoyed and well received by the president. Consequently Zelaya ordered his father's release and offered Salomon a scholarship to study in the United States when he was 13 years old. He accepted the offer and studied at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and was later employed as a Spanish language professor.

By winter 1914-15 he met Rubén Darío in New York City and accompanied him to a conference offered at Columbia University on February 4, 1915.[1] In New York, 1918, he published his first book of poetry: Tropical Town and Other Poems which was written in English. He frequented the literary circles of young New York poets with figures such as Stephen Vincent Benet and Edna St. Vincent Millay with whom it was said he had a love affair. He participated in World War I serving the British forces and from these experiences he wrote a book of poetry El soldado desconocido (The Unknown Soldier), written in Spanish and illustrated by Diego Rivera, which was published in Mexico in 1922.[2] Around this time in 1922 he was also romantically involved with American author Katherine Anne Porter.[3] He associated himself with the American labour movement and became secretary to labor union leader Samuel Gompers.

Between 1925 and 1929 he lived in Nicaragua and dedicated himself to the local syndicalism activism of laborioust tendency. He urged the affiliation of the Nicaraguan Worker's Federation (Federación Obrera Nicaragüense) to the Panamerican Worker's Central (Central Obrera Panamericana), which was affiliated to the American Federation of Labor.[4][5] By 1930 he had published articles supporting Augusto César Sandino published in San José, Costa Rica through different media such as the Diario de Costa Rica and Repertorio Americano of Joaquín García Monge.[5][6] and in 1935 he moved to Mexico City, where he was able to influence Mexican politics; along with his brother Rogelio de la Selva, he was advisor to President Miguel Alemán Valdés. Whilst in France, as a Nicaraguan ambassador, he died on February 5, 1959 in Paris.[1]

Works

Poetry

Novels

References

  1. 1 2 Mejía Sánchez, Ernesto (1980). Acroasis del "Acolmixtli Nezahualcóyotl," Biblioteca Enciclopédica del Estado de México, Mexico.
  2. ↑ Pravaz, Sergio (2002). "Salomón de la Selva, otra vanguardia," 10 autores latinoamericanos: "Cuando el verbo tensó su cuerda", Revista EOM: el otro mensual, revista de creación literaria y artística 17, December 2002.
  3. ↑ Titus, Mary (2005). The Ambivalent Art of Katherine Anne Porter. Athens, London: University of George. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-8203-2756-3.
  4. ↑ "Salomón de la Selva (1893-1959)," Escritores nicaragüenses, breve descripción biográfica de escritores y poetas nicaragüenses, March 20, 2007.
  5. 1 2 Molina Jiménez, Iván (1999). "Salomón de la Selva, ¿sandinista?," El nuevo diario, Managua, Nicaragua: April 17, 1999.
  6. ↑ Fiallos Gil, Mariano (1963). Salomón de la Selva poeta de la humildad y la grandeza, Hospicio, León, Nicaragua.
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