Gilberto Owen Estrada (May 13, 1904 – March 9, 1952) was a Mexican poet and diplomat.

Biography

Officially registered as Gilberto Estrada, son of Margarita Estrada from

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

, Gilberto Owen was born in

Rosario, Sinaloa El Rosario () is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It stands at . The city reported 16,001 inhabitants in the 2010 census. Overview El Rosario, a small town about south of Mazatlán, is famous for the a ...

(May 13, 1904). He spent some of his early years (1919–1923) in

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

, where he studied at the ''Instituto Científico y Literario''. In 1923, he left Toluca and went to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

, after he got contact to General

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

, who engaged him in the Secretaría de la Presidencia, where he served from August 1923 to June 1928. He matriculated in the

Escuela Nacional Preparatoria The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria ( en, National Preparatory High School) (ENP), the oldest senior High School system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founded ...

. At this time he met the actress Clementina Otero,''Gilberto Owen''
(Spanish) at ''sinaloa.gob.mex''. and people like

Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano (Mexico City, January 3, 1899 – Mexico City, April 13, 1949)''Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano'' in Octavio Paz''Poesía en movimiento: México 1915-1966''(Spanish), 2006, p. 385 was a modern Mexican poet, literary crit ...

, Salvador Novo,

Xavier Villaurrutia Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía y teatro co ...

, Jorge Cuesta, Carlos Pellicer, Jaime Torres Bodet,

José Gorostiza José Gorostiza Alcalá (10 November 1901 – 16 March 1973) was a Mexican poet, educator, and diplomat. For his achievements in the poetic arts, he was made a member of the . Biography José Gorostiza was born in the riverine city of Villahermo ...

, Enrique González Rojo and others, when he joined the group Los Contemporáneos, where he also wrote for the magazine "Ulises" in 1926.''Gilberto Owen un poeta de breve y gran significación''
(Spanish), March 9, 2009. He is presumed to be the romantic one and the least civilized of the group.Luis Mario Schneider
''Gilberto Owen- El infierno perdido''
(Spanish), ''Material de Lectura'' 36,

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. He spent some years in Bogota where he worked as a journalist and newspaper translator. It has been published recently a compilation of his work in Bogota, Colombia. Editors Celene García Ávila and Antonio Cajero rescued from ''El Tiempo'' (1933–1935) articles and chronicles which display a variety of styles and deal with topics such as politics, extraordinary facts and lifestyle in Latin America. This book was published by Miguel Angel Porrua and Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) in 2009. In July 1928 he became diplomat of the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, and so he lived and wrote the longest time of his life abroad, first in the United States, later in Peru, Ecuador,''Gilberto Owen''
(Spanish), MSN Encarta

2009-10-31. and at the end of 1932 in Colombia, where he married Cecilia Salazar Roldán on December 2, 1935, daughter of the Colombian General and governor of Panama

Víctor Manuel Salazar Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: *Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) *Víctor Cabrera (Chilean footballer) *Víctor Hugo Cabrera, a ...

. In

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

he published sporadically in the newspaper "El Tiempo". After his marriage failed, he returned to Mexico in 1942, where he wrote for the magazine "El hijo pródigo". In the end of the 1940s he had serious health problems, when he was transferred to the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia, where he finally served as vice-consul. Owen died in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

of cirrhosis, and is buried in the

Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to: United States California *Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) *Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California * Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California) * Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California) *Holy C ...

, Yeadon, Pennsylvania. A literature prize is awarded in his name.

Works

* ''La llama fría'' (short-novel), 1925 * ''Desvelo'', 1925 * ''Novela como nube'' (prose), 1928 * ''Línea'', 1930 * ''Libro de Ruth'', 1944 * ''Perseo vencido'', 1948 * ''Simbad el varado'', 1948 * ''Poesía y prosa'', 1953 * ''Primeros versos'', 1957 * ''El infierno perdido'', 1978 * ''Obras'', 1979

References

External links

* (Spanish), Miguel Ángel Porrúa /Universidad autónoma del Estado de México, México. . Print. * * * , http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/104/10414216.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Gilberto Mexican male writers Mexican diplomats Writers from Sinaloa 1904 births 1952 deaths Mexican people of Irish descent Mexican expatriates in Colombia Mexican expatriates in Ecuador Mexican expatriates in the United States

Biography

Works

Further reading

References

External links