Gabino Coria Peñaloza (February 19, 1881 – October 31, 1975) was an Argentine poet and lyricist. Gabino Coria Peñaloza was born in

La Paz, Mendoza La Paz is a town in the northeast of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, located on National Route 7, north of the Tunuyán River The Tunuyán River is a river in the Argentine province of Mendoza. It is born in Mount Tupungato, in the Andes ...

, in 1881. His family relocated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, and Coria eventually settled into a post as a tax collector for the city. His artistic inclinations stoked an interest in literature, poetry and narration - particularly a form of narration known in the Argentine countryside as ''coplas'', ten-line verses rich in metaphor and aphorisms. His knowledge of the mountainous La Rioja Province by way of his mother helped secure him a post as

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

inspector. His friendships with a number of rising figures in

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

, especially composer

Juan de Dios Filiberto Juan de Dios Filiberto (8 March 1885 11 November 1964) was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre. Life and work He was born Óscar Juan de Dios Filiberti in 1885 to Josefa Roballo ...

and vocalist

Carlos Gardel Carlos Gardel (born Charles Romuald Gardès; 11 December 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a French-born Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was one of the most influential inte ...

, later prompted him to write his first tango, ''El Pañuelito'' ("The Handkerchief") in 1920. Made into music by Filiberto, this began one of the genre's best-known collaborations over the years. Gabino Coria Peñaloza - Euzer Díaz

He named and created lyrics for a number of tangos, including ''El besito'' ("Little Kiss"), ''La cartita'' ("The Letter"), ''La Vuelta de Rocha'' ("Rocha's Bend", a corner in

La Boca La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa. Geography L ...

) and ''El ramito'' ("The Bouquet"), among others. His most celebrated creation, however, became a reminiscence of his days in La Rioja, and of a torrid love affair with a pretty young pianist who was forced to leave him after she became pregnant: '' Caminito'' - the "Little Path." Coria Peñaloza later wrote two tangos with Juan Carlos Moreno González: ''Margaritas'' ("Daisies"), recorded by

in 1929 and ''Mi casita'' ("My Little House"), with no recordings. Following this disappointment, he relocated to

Chilecito Chilecito is a city in the Argentine province of La Rioja, and head of the department of Chilecito. Overview The city is located in the valley formed by the ''Sierras de Velazco'' to the east, and the ''Sierras de Famatina'' to the west. The c ...

, a valley town situated high in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountains in La Rioja Province. There, he published three books of poetry in subsequent years: ''El Profeta Indio'' ("The Indian Prophet"), ''Cantares'' ("Ballads"), and ''La canción de mis canciones'' ("Song of My Songs"). ''Caminito'', for its part, helped inspire

Benito Quinquela Martín Benito Quinquela Martín (March 1, 1890 – January 28, 1977) was an Argentine painter. Quinquela Martín is considered the port painter-par-excellence and one of the most popular Argentine painters. His paintings of port scenes show the activit ...

's restoration of a derelict

shortcut by the same name during the mid-1950s. The restored, pedestrian street's designation by that name by Mayor Hernán Giralt in 1959 was not attended by Coria, however, who disapproved on the grounds that his lyrics referred to the La Rioja Province road, instead. He remained in Chilecito with his wife, though unable to locate the son or daughter he was told to have fathered from his youthful fling. Gabino Coria Peñaloza died in Chilecito in 1975, at age 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coria Penaloza, Gabino 1881 births 1975 deaths People from Mendoza Province Argentine people of Spanish descent 20th-century Argentine poets 20th-century Argentine male writers Argentine male poets Argentine lyricists