Agustina Pastora Andrade (9 August 1858 – 10 February 1891) was an Argentine poet, considered to be one of the principal writers of the
Generation of '80
The Generation of '80 ( es, Generación del '80) was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors (''Liga de Gobernadores''), a ...
,
and "probably the most praised female poet of the 1870s".
The daughter of the poet
Olegario Victor Andrade, her poems were praised by Martín Coronado for their "idealized romantic love".
Early life and work
Agustina Andrade was born in
Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos
Gualeguaychú is a city in the , on the left bank of the Gualeguaychú River (a tributary of the Uruguay River). It is located on the south-east of the province, approximately 230 km north-west of Buenos Aires. It has a population of 109,266 ...
on 9 August 1858 (or 1861)
in the town of
Gualeguaychú, in the province of Entre Ríos. She was the daughter of the poet
Olegario Victor Andrade and Maria Eloisa Quiñones González. Interested in poetry from a young age, she began to publish her work by 16. With her father and the young
Leandro N. Alem
Leandro Nicéforo Alem (born Leandro Alén; 11 March 1841 – 1 July 1896) was an Argentine politician, founder and leader of the Radical Civic Union. He was the uncle and political teacher of Hipólito Yrigoyen. He was also an active Freemaso ...
, Andrade worked on ''Álbum poético argentino'', released in 1877.
Encouraged by her father, she began publishing her poems in ''La Tribuna'', forming a distinct poetic style, clearly influenced by
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
and
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, literary columnist, and talented ...
. In 1878, she published the volume ''Lágrimas'', and the following year authored ''Flor de un día''.
Her poems were praised by the likes of Benigno Tejeiro Martínez and Martín Coronado for their "idealized romantic love". In his ''Poesías'' (1877), the poet Gervasio Méndez includes the poem, ''¿Cuándo vuelves á tu patria? A mi simpática amiga Agustina Andrade'' (When will you return to your country? To my good friend, Agustina Andrade).
Andrade's poem ''La Fé'' was described as a "revelation".
Personal life
Andrade met the military officer
Ramón Lista (1856–1897), when he arrived to explore southern Argentina. In 1879, they married in Buenos Aires. Lista left the Territorio Nacional de Santa Cruz, where he became the second governor, while Andrade lived in
Témperley, about twenty kilometers from the city of Buenos Aires. Although they did not see much of each other, the couple had two daughters. In 1890, Andrade learned that her husband maintained a parallel family in Patagonia with an indigenous
Tehuelche woman called Koila, with whom he had a daughter.
Heartbroken, she locked herself in the house for months on end, before leaving her two daughters in the care of her mother and committing suicide with a revolver on 10 February 1891.
She is buried in the
La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
See also
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Lists of writers
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrade, Agustina
Argentine women poets
People from Entre Ríos Province
Suicides by firearm in Argentina
1858 births
1891 deaths
19th-century poets
19th-century Argentine women writers
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
1890s suicides