Darío, Rubén, 1867-1916

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1867-01-18

Death 1916-02-06

Nationality: Nicaraguans,

Language: Spanish; Castilian,

Biographical notes:

Nicaraguan diplomat, journalist, and poet Rubén Darío is widely regarded as the father of Spanish-American modernism. He was heavily influenced by Victor Hugo and the French Parnassians and Symbolists, chiefly Paul Verlaine.

From the description of Rubén Darío compositions, 1879-1914. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 659786911

Nicaraguan diplomat, journalist, and poet Rubén Darío is widely regarded as the father of Spanish-American modernism. Heavily influenced by Victor Hugo and the French Parnassians and Symbolists, chiefly Paul Verlaine, he combined neoclassical alexandrine verse with modern exoticism and sensualism to create an œuvre in which the sanctity of art and the sensibility of the artist are major themes. He was a writer of conflicting impulses: a pious Catholic as well as a liberal, anti-clerical romantic who believed art to be a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds; a "man of the Americas" who nevertheless looked to Europe for cultural models; a champion of democracy and the nobility of labor who engaged in flights of the most rarified fancy.

From the guide to the Rubén Darío compositions, 1879-1914., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

Rubén Darío was born on January 18, 1867 in Metapa, Nicaragua, currently known as Ciudad Darío. He is recognized as one of Latin America's most famous poets and as Nicaragua's most revered cultural figure. Throughout his short life, Darío worked as a journalist (most notably in Argentina and Chile), as a diplomat (he held official posts for the Nicaraguan government in Spain and France), and as a poet and author of essays and other literary works. He is considered the founder of modernism/ modernismo, a 20th-century Latin American literary movement. Darío died on February 16, 1916 in León, Nicaragua.

From the guide to the Rubén Darío Papers, 1882-1945, 1882-1915, (Arizona State University Libraries Special Collections)