José María Vergara y Vergara (March 19, 1831 – March 9, 1872) was a Colombian writer, journalist, politician, historian and diplomat. Vergara y Vergara is known for writing the first literary history of Colombia, a detailed chronological compilation of authors, works, and literary movements between 1538 and 1820. Vergara founded and directed the

Colombian Academy of Language The Academia Colombiana de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Colombian Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Colombia. It is based in Bogotá, Colombia's capital, and is a member of the ...

alongside Manuel Antonio Caro, and Jose Cuervo. Considered the most prestigious and significant colombian author of the

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolis ...

Upon Vergara y Vergara's death in 1887, the president of Colombia, created the "Jose Maria Vergara y Vergara" Literature Award.

Biography

Born in Bogotá in 1831 into an old and aristocrat

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. He was the sixth of ten children born to Ignacio Manuel de Vergara and Ignacia Vergara Nates. At the Casablanca Hacienda (Madrid-Cundinamarca), a family heirloom on his paternal line, José María Vergara y Vergara spent many years of his childhood and it was a recurring motif in his evocative writing. The property had belonged to the family since colonial times, when Antonio Vergara Azcárate y Dávila was granted the royal decree of 1650, in order to grant him he "

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

de indios del pueblo de Serrezuela". This way it passed from generation to generation until it finally became a memory when its last owner, José María Vergara y Vergara, could not save it from the enormous mortgage with which his father gave it to him. In 1900 it was acquired by José María Sierra ''Pepe Sierra'' and since then it has belonged to that family. In the 1850s he moved to Popayán, the city where he met his future wife, Saturia Balcázar, whom he married in 1854 and had five children: Ignacia, Francisco José, Mercedes, Concepción and Tadeo. These last two died early. He worked as a professor of literature in Popayán, founded and edited various literary and political newspapers, and was treasurer of the Casa de Moneda in 1862. In 1867 he published two of the three parts of his most important work: Historia de la literatura en Nueva Granada (1535-1820) (the third part was never published). Work Vergara y Vergara admired and read assiduously the works of

Fernán Caballero Fernán Caballero (24 December 1796 – 7 April 1877) was the pseudonym of Spanish novelist Cecilia Francisca Josefa Böhl de Faber y Ruiz de Larrea. She was daughter of German writer Johann Nikolaus Böhl von Faber and Spanish writer Frasquit ...

, Antonio Trueba,

François René de Chateaubriand François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King o ...

and Miguel de Cervantes. He published the ''Historia de la literatura en Nueva Granada'' part I y II (1867), the anthologies ''Parnaso colombiano'' and ''La lira granadina'', novels such as ''Novela Americana'' alongside

Jorge Isaacs Jorge Isaacs Ferrer (April 1, 1837 – April 17, 1895) was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, '' María'', became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish-language literature. Biography His f ...

and Guillermo Prieto and the biography ''Vida y escritos del general Nariño''. He also wrote

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

(''Versos en borrador'', 1869), costumbrismo portraits, emulating

, (''Las tres tazas y otros cuentos'', 1863), and novels (''Olivas y aceitunas, todas son unas'', 1868). Colombian politician and writer Jose Maria Samper described Vergara: ''''as a prose artist, had a curious contrast: his soul was Spanish, his heart was Colombian, and his wit was French. He was a Spanish Santa Fe and a Castilian Parisian. He felt like a patriot: he thought like a Frenchman and wrote like a descendant of the race of Rioja, Herrera, Garcilaso and the Moratines. His style was a mixture of imitations, in which

, :Trueba Y Selgas and Carrasco were shuffled with Alejandro Dumas, Víctor Hugo and Enrique Conscience.''''

According to his autobiography, he left some unedited manuscripts: the novel ''Mercedes''; ''Cuadros Políticos o Días Históricos'' (starting from 1849); an incomplete dictionary of geography; a dictionary of biographies; and two incomplete novels, ''Un chismoso'' and ''Un odio a muerte''.

Newspapers Founded and/or Edited by Vergara y Vergara

''La Siesta'' (Bogotá, 1852), with

Rafael Pombo José Rafael de Pombo y Rebolledo (November 7, 1833 – May 5, 1912) was a Colombian poet born in Bogotá. Trained as a mathematician and an engineer in a military school, Rafael Pombo served in the army and he traveled to the United States of Ame ...

.
''La Matricaria: Periódico de La Juventud. Colección de Artículos de Costumbres, Revistas y Literatura'' (Popayán, 1854)
''El Mosaico: Miscelánea de Literatura, Ciencias y Música'' (Bogotá, 1858), with

Ricardo Carrasquilla Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portug ...

and

José Manuel Marroquín Jose Manuel Cayetano Marroquín Ricaurte (August 6, 1827 – September 19, 1908) was a Colombian political figure and the 27th President of Colombia. Biographic data José Manuel Marroquín was born in Bogotá, on August 6, 1827. He died in ...

.
''El Heraldo: Órgano Del Partido Conservador'' (Bogotá, 1860).
''El Cundinamarqués: Periódico Oficial y Órgano de los Intereses del Estado'' (Bogotá, 1861).

External Links

Jose Maria Vergara y Vergara Literature Award

Jose Maria Vergara y Vergara Institute
Colombia.
Jose Maria Vergara y Vergara School
Bogotá, Colombia.

References

External links

* 1831 births 1872 deaths Colombian diplomats Colombian journalists Male journalists Colombian politicians Colombian male writers People from Bogotá 19th-century journalists 19th-century male writers {{Colombia-writer-stub Vergara family Colombian socialites Colombian writers South American writers South American writer stubs Colombian Conservative Party politicians