Amelia Denis de Icaza (November 28, 1836 – July 16, 1911) was a
Panamanian
Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For ...
romantic poet. She was the first Panamanian woman to publish her poetry.
Biography
Born in
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
in 1836, her father was of French origin and her mother Panamanian. As a child, she was very interested in literature and wrote poems in a completely natural style without any trimmings. Her father Saturnino Denis was an editor at the time. She went to the local school in the Santa Ana district but received most of her cultural education at home, meeting poets whose works were published in ''La Floresta Istmeña''. She married while still young and spent a lengthy period in Nicaragua. By some accounts, she also spent quite some time in Guatemala.
When she returned home, the Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the ter ...
was in the hands of the Americans. This caused her considerable sadness which is reflected in one of her most beautiful poems, '' Al Cerro Ancón'' (1906). Ancon Hill became part of the land taken to build the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
and the hill became a national symbol after she wrote her poem about the American annexation. Today this hill still boasts a large national flag at its summit. Like her other works, ''Al Cerro Ancón'' has a strong patriotic flavour which is also reflected in ''Zona del Canal'' (the Canal Zone) which was closed to Panamanians. Other works include '' Patria'', ''Hojas Secas'', '' Amor de madre'' (1879) and ''A la Muerte de Victoriano Lorenzo''.[
Amelia Denis de Icaza died in ]Managua
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on 16 July 1911.[
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Legacy
There is a large bronze statue to her on Ancon Hill in Panama[Monument to Amelia Denis de Icaza]
Minube.com, retrieved 11 March 2015 which appropriately sits at the bottom of the flagpole from which is flown an extremely large Panamanian flag.
See also
* List of Panamanian women writers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denis de Icaza, Amelia
1836 births
1911 deaths
Panamanian poets
Panamanian women writers
19th-century poets
20th-century poets
People from Panama City
Panamanian women poets
20th-century Panamanian women writers
20th-century Panamanian writers
19th-century Panamanian women writers
19th-century Panamanian writers