Candelario Obeso (12 January 1849 – 3 July 1884) was a Colombian poet. He is known as a precursor of the ''Poesía Negra y oscura (black and dark poetry)'' in Colombia.

Life

He was a mulatto, born of a white ''hacendado'' and a black maid in Mompox, Colombia on 12 January 1849. He studied at Colegio Pinillos de Mompox. In 1886 he obtained an scholarship to do his higher studies at Colegio Militar de Bogotá, and a year later he entered the

Universidad Nacional de Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

where he started engineering, law and political science, but due to economical struggle, he was unable to graduate from any faculty. He had several jobs during short periods of time. Due to his friendship with influential personalities of the time, he was named consul in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

, France and national interpreter in Panama. He also worked as a school teacher in Sucre and municipal treasurer of Magangué. He faced racial discrimination and economical struggle. He fell in love with a white high-society lady who rejected his poems on love and she soon got engaged to a rich man. Heartbroken, he shot himself in the chest and died in Bogotá a few days later. His remains are in the cemetery of Mompox. Tumba Candelario Obeso

Legacy

He is known as the precursor of the ''Poesía Negra y oscura'' (black and dark poetry) in Colombia, a literary style that focused on describing the daily activities performed by the Colombian black communities. He wrote his narrative in the first person and using the language the Afrocolombian communities spoke. An example of this is his first book of poems, ''Cantos Populares de mi Tierra'', published by Imprenta de Borda in 1887. He also wrote ''La familia Pygmalion'' (1871), ''Lectura para ti'' (1878), ''Secundino el Zapatero'' (1880) and ''Lucha de la vida'' (1882). He translated into Spanish Shakespeare's '' Othello'', and works from Víctor Hugo,

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, Musset,

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

and Jonathan Lawrence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeso, Candelario 1849 births 1884 deaths Colombian writers 19th-century Colombian poets National University of Colombia alumni People from Bolívar Department Suicides by firearm in Colombia English–Spanish translators German–Spanish translators Colombian translators Burials in Colombia Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of William Shakespeare Colombian people of African descent 1880s suicides