Clementina Suárez (12 May 1902 – 1991) was an early Honduran writer,
[ who broke social norms. She was the first woman to publish a book of poetry in Honduras and is now recognized as the 'Honduran matriarch poet'. Clementina was an influential person of art and culture of Honduras and Central America.
]
Life
Suárez was a Bohemian whom loved to frequent cafes. Since she was little she got used to getting whatever she wanted and doing whatever she felt like. It didn't bother her that she was the only woman who frequented the tobacco shop "Mamá llaca" in the neighborhood La Ronda de Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
.
Truthfully Clementina's education was that of the people. Clementina was called the "New Woman" in Honduras.
Suárez was born in Juticalpa in 1902 to Amelia Zelaya Bustillo and Luis Suarez. She attended public school until fifth grade. In 1923 her father died, and Suárez left her rural family home without financial support or the support of her mother. She had frequent troubles such as lack of food and water, and other things such as strangers and a huge fear of kidnappers as she traveled, hence she was so young. Eventually, she made her first destinations were town where she had relatives who provided a place for her to stay. She lived and worked various jobs in Trujillo, La Ceiba, San Pedro, Tela, and finally Tegucigalpa, all while writing. She eventually moved in with Antonia Rosa, also a writer. They had two daughters together, however, never married. Shortly after the birth of her second daughter, the poet, now 27, left Rosa and married Guillermo Bustillo Reina, but the marriage ended after less than a year. Then, in 1948, she married the prominent visual artist, Jose Mejia Vides.
She worked as a waitress to feed herself and her two children, but she still wrote. She wore shorts and a bikini, celebrating her body not only in life but also in her poetry. She was seen as a free woman, independent and outspoken. Tegucigalpa was shocked because of her modern way of behaving and breaking established rules traditionally attached to "feminine" behaviour. She was also the first woman to publish a book in Honduras.
In December 1991 delinquents were merciless to her. The poet Roberto Sosa Roberto Sosa may refer to:
*Roberto Sosa (poet) (1930–2011), Honduran author and poet
*Roberto Sosa (Argentine footballer) (born 1975), Argentine footballer
*Roberto Sosa (Uruguayan footballer) (born 1935)
*Roberto Sosa (actor)
See also
*Sosa (su ...
did her final interview.
Her first two published poems reflected her independent character. She walked the streets of the capital dressed as a bellboy to sell her work when she published six issues of a journal named ''Mujer'' (woman). In 1936–7 she was in Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
seeing its resistance against fascism. This observation and the news of the Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
is thought to have expanded Suárez's horizons.
She founded the ''Gallery of Central American Art'' while in political exile in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in the 1940s. In the 1950s she created an artist's gallery ''El Rancho del Artista'' in El Salvador which was open to the public as well as serving as a community.[Introduction: Why Are There So Many Women Writers?]
bookmaniac.org, Retrieved 26 October 2015 She returned to her home country in 1958.
The National Honduras University published an anthology of her poetry and the following year, 1970, she was given a national award for her work in literature. Suárez mixed with the literati and she knew the Nobel Prize winners Pablo Neruda and Miguel Angel Asturias.[Clementina Suárez: Her Life and Poetry – Book review]
University Press of Florida, retrieved 26 October 2015 She died in Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
in 1991.
Work
Legacy
Suárez was honoured with a Honduran stamp in 1999.[Honduras stamp in 1999]
StampWorld.com, Retrieved 26 October 2015
She has been said to be her country's premier woman poet.[Honduran poetry]
Vianegative.us, Retrieved 26 October 2015 She was also said to be the first woman in Honduras to wear shorts and lipstick; which together with appearing naked reading communist revolutionary poetry, added to her infamous reputation.[ There is a book and a film about her life and there are said to be portraits of her by the Mexican painter ]Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
,[ the Costa Rican painter Francisco Amighetti and ]Camilo Minero
Camilo Minero (born Camilo Minero Nochez) was born in Zacatecoluca, La Paz, Zacatecoluca, El Salvador on November 11, 1917. He was a painter, muralist, and an engraver. As a painter, he worked with oil painting, prints, Screen printing, serigraphs ...
from El Salvador.[Portraits of Clementina]
, casaclementina.com, Retrieved 26 October 2015
Bibliography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suarez, Clementina
1902 births
1991 deaths
People from Olancho Department
20th-century Honduran poets
Honduran women poets
20th-century Honduran women writers