Helena Leiva de Holst (1897–1978) was a socialist who traveled to both China and the Soviet Union to study Marxism. Her leftist politics caused her to be exiled to Guatemala, where she participated in feminist causes. In the 1950s, Che Guevara lived with her and dedicated some of his poetry to her. When the United Fruit sponsored coup d'état overthrew Guatemalan president

Jacobo Árbenz Juan Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán (; 14 September 191327 January 1971) was a Guatemalan military officer and politician who served as the 25th President of Guatemala. He was Minister of National Defense from 1944 to 1950, and the second democraticall ...

, Leiva was exiled to Mexico. She finally was able to return to Honduras in the late 1960s.

Biography

Helena Leiva Ferrera was born on 5 October 1897 in

Santa Cruz de Yojoa Santa Cruz de Yojoa is a town, with a population of 18,780 (2020 calculation), and a municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by n ...

Cortés Department Cortés is one of the 18 departments of Honduras. The department covers an area of 3,954 km² and, in 2015, had an estimated population of 1,612,762, making it the most populous in Honduras. The Merendón Mountains rise in western Cortés, ...

, Honduras to Emilio Leiva and Florinda Ferrera. Leiva was the granddaughter of Honduran president

Ponciano Leiva Ponciano Leiva Madrid (1821–1896) was President of Honduras 13 January 1874 – 8 June 1876 and 30 November 1891 – 7 August 1893. Leiva was a conservative. Leiva was a soldier and initially came to power through the support of the military. ...

. As a child, she moved to San Pedro Sula for her studies and it was there that she married a German businessman, Henry Holst. Because of her leftist political views, Leiva was forced into exile in Guatemala. Leiva had traveled to both China and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to study

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and in addition was a supporter of feminist causes, attending the

Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres The Primer Congreso Interamericano de Mujeres (First Inter-American Congress of Women) was a feminist meeting held from 21 to 27 August 1947 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was called together by the Women's International League for Peace and Freed ...

held in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

in 1947. She was also one of the leaders of the Alianza de Mujeres (Alliance of Women). Leiva continued with her leftist activities, providing lodging for

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

, who was so taken with her that described her philosophy as "close to communism" and dedicated a 1954 poem, "Invitación al camino" to her. In mid-July, 1954, she was arrested during United Fruit the coup d'état against Guatemalan president

and was exiled to Mexico."Anderson (2010)", p 154 After many years of living in exile, she finally was able to return home and lived in San Pedro Sula for the remainder of her life. Leiva died on 23 August 1978 in

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 671,460 ...

, Cortés Department, Honduras.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leiva de Holst,Helena 1897 births 1978 deaths Honduran socialists Honduran feminists Honduran suffragists Honduran women activists