biography of the day--julia de burgos
Julia de Burgos
Julia Constancia Burgos García (February 17, 1914 – July 6, 1953) is considered by many as the greatest poet born in Puerto Rico,[1][2] and, along with Gabriela Mistral, one of the greatest female poets of Latin America.[2][3][4][5] She was also an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico, and an ardent civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers.
Julia de Burgos (birth name: Julia Constanza de Burgos) was born to Francisco Burgos Hans (a farmer) and Paula García de Burgos. Although her father worked for the National Guard and farmed near the town of Carolina, Puerto Rico, when she was born, the family later removed to the barrio of Santa Cruz of the same city. She was the oldest of thirteen children, and six of her youngest siblings died of malnutrition. Her family's poverty did not keep her from developing a love for nature and her country, as noted in her first work Río Grande de Loíza. According to Burgos[6]:
. . . . . .
By the early 1930s, Burgos was already a published writer in journals and newspapers. She published three books which contained a collection of her poems. For her first two books, she traveled around the island promoting herself by giving book readings. Her third book was published posthumously in 1954. Burgos's lyrical poems are a combination of the intimate, the land and the social struggle of the oppressed. Many critics asserts that her poetry anticipated the work of feminist writers and poets as well as that of other Hispanic authors.[7] In one of her poems, she writes: “I am life, strength, woman.” [8] Burgos received numerous awards and recognition for her work and was celebrated by poets including Pablo Neruda, who stated that her calling was to be the greatest poet of the Americas.[9]
. . . . .
Later in life, Burgos became romantically involved with Dr. Juan Isidro Jimenes Grullón, a Dominican physician. According to Grullón, many of her poems during that time were inspired by the love that she felt for him.[6] In 1939, Burgos and Jimenes Grullón traveled first to Cuba where she attended the University of Havana and then later to New York where she worked as a journalist for Pueblos Hispanos, a progressive newspaper.
. . . . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_de_Burgos