Jacobo Fijman (25 January 1898 – 1 December 1970) was an Argentine poet born in
Orhei,
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
, now in
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
. He moved to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
with his parents in 1902.
Raised in humble circumstances, Fijman was a highly intelligent child interested in art, music, and literature; he later made a modest living as a French teacher and itinerant violinist until a series of
mental breakdown
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
s lead to his permanent (and, according to Fijman, not always unpleasant) residency at the
Borda Asylum from 1942 until his death. Fijman was keenly interested in
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and
religious visions, part of the reason for his conversion from
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in 1930.
The poetry of Jacobo Fijman is often
metaphysical
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, and has traces of
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
. Fijman published three volumes of poems in his life: ''Molino rojo'', ''Hecho de estampas'', and ''Estrella de la Mañana''.
His personality inspired the fictional character of ''Samuel Tesler'' from ''Adán Buenosayres'', the widely recognized novel written by
Leopoldo Marechal
Leopoldo Marechal (June 11, 1900 – June 26, 1970) was one of the most important Argentine writers of the twentieth century.
Biographical notes
Born in Buenos Aires into a family of French and Spanish descent, Marechal became a primary sch ...
.
He died in 1970 at a hospice in at the
Borda Hospital
The Hospital Interdisciplinario Psicoasistencial José Tiburcio Borda (alternate: Municipal Hospital of José Tiburcio Borda; nickname: El Borda) is the largest and most notable psychiatric hospital in Argentina. Situated on , El Borda is located ...
,
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 ...
.
Jacobo_Fijman
References
1898 births
1970 deaths
People from Orhei
People from Orgeyevsky Uyezd
Moldovan Jews
Bessarabian Jews
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Argentina
Argentine people of Moldovan-Jewish descent
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism
20th-century Argentine poets
20th-century Argentine male writers
Jewish Argentine writers
Jewish poets
Argentine male poets
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