Juan León Mera Martínez (28 June 1832 – 13 December 1894) was an Ecuadorian essayist, novelist, politician and painter. His best-known works are the Ecuadorian National Hymn and the novel ''

Cumandá Cumandá is a location in the Chimborazo Province, Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republi ...

'' (1879). Additionally, in his political career, he was a functionary of president

Gabriel García Moreno Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García Moreno y Morán de Butrón (24 December 1821 – 6 August 1875), was an Ecuadorian politician and aristocrat who twice served as President of Ecuador (1861–65 and 1869–75) and was assassinated d ...

Biography

He was born in Ambato on 28 June 1832 and died in the same city on 13 December 1894. His father, Pedro Antonio Mera Gómez was a businessman while his mother Josefa Martínez Vásconez, raised her only son alone due to the fact that he abandoned her during her pregnancy. His infancy was humble while during his first years of life he lived at the “Los Molinos” country property, located in Ambato. In order to support the family his maternal grandmother rented the property to her brother Pablo Vásconez, who was a political activist who fought against the politics of

Juan José Flores Juan José Flores y Aramburu (19 July 1800 – 1 October 1864) was a Venezuelan-born military general who became the first (in 1830), third (in 1839) and fourth (in 1843) President of the new Republic of Ecuador. He is often referred to as "The ...

. León Mera received his education at home, which in large part was carried out by great-uncle as well as his uncle Nicolás Martínez who was a doctor. At the age of twenty he traveled to

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

to study painting with the noted pictural artist Antonio Salas, where he learned how to paint oil and watercolor. At the age of 33, he and Antonio Neumane created the Ecuadorian National Hymn, "salve, Oh patria". Juan Leon Mera's son José Trajano Mera (1862 – 1919) became a poet, playwright and diplomat,

Writing

In the year 1854, he published his first verses of poetry in the newspaper La Democracia, with the help of writer

Miguel Riofrío Miguel Riofrio Sánchez (September 7, 1822 – October 11, 1879) was an Ecuadoran poet, novelist, journalist, orator, and educator. He was born in the city of Loja. He is best known today as the author of Ecuador's first novel ''La Emancipada' ...

. He founded the Ecuadorian Academy of language in 1874 and was a member of the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

. He is considered one of the precursors of

Ecuadorian literature The majority of Ecuador's population is descended from a mixture of both European and Amerindian ancestry. The other 10% of Ecuador's population originate east of the Atlantic Ocean, predominantly from Spain, Italy, Lebanon, France and Germany. A ...

for his famous national novel ''

'' which shows the complicated racial and social intricacies of Ecuador following independence. It was published in

in the year 1879 and later in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1891. This novel was later utilized by Ecuadorian dramaturgists of the 20th century Luis H. Salgado (1903–1977), Pedro Pablo Traversari Salazar (1874–1956) and Sixto María Durán Cárdenas (1875–1947) to each write an opera.

Political career

In addition to being a writer and painter he was a political conservative and follower of

. He was the governor of

Cotopaxi Cotopaxi () is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located in Latacunga city of Cotopaxi Province, about south of Quito, and northeast of the city of Latacunga, Ecuador. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a ...

, Secretary of the Council of State, Senator,

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

and National Congress in 1886. His former residence, the museum "La quinta de Juan León Mera", in the city of Ambato, exhibits his possessions.

Works

References

Works based on his novels

Three operas have been based on Juan León Mera's novel

: : * ''Cumandá'', una ópera de Luis H. Salgado : * ''

'', una ópera de Sixto María Durán Cárdenas : * ''Cumandá o la virgen de las selvas'' una ópera de Pedro Pablo Traversari Salazar {{DEFAULTSORT:Mera, Juan Leon 1832 births 1894 deaths People from Ambato, Ecuador Presidents of the Senate of Ecuador Ecuadorian painters Ecuadorian male writers Members of the Royal Spanish Academy National anthem writers 19th-century Ecuadorian painters