María Josefa Acevedo Sánchez de Gómez (1803–1861), generally published under the name Josefa Acevedo or Josefa Acevedo de Gómez, was a Colombian poet and prose writer.

Biography

Early life

Acevedo was born 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 larges ...

on 23 January 1803, to

José Acevedo y Gómez José Acevedo y Gómez (1773 in Charalá, Santander – May 1817, in Caquetá) was an independence hero of Colombia. With an educational background of grammar and philosophy, he became a highly skillful orator and political figure, attaining the ...

and Catalina Sánchez de Tejada. She had two older siblings, José Pedro and Liboria, and six younger siblings, Eusebia, José Prudencio, Juan Miguel, Alfonso, Catarina, and Concepción.

Career

Acevedo wrote formal verse, essays, and biographies of famous contemporaries and notable members of her family by blood or by marriage that were published and widely circulated during her lifetime. The first of Acevedo's books to be published was a cross between a long-form essay and instruction manual on married life titled ''Ensayo sobre los deberes de los casados''. Due to Acevedo's misgivings about the quality of her writing and her resulting fear that the book would be harshly judged, the earliest editions of the work were published anonymously. The book proved very popular, however, and years later, a fifth edition was released with authorial attribution. ''Cuadros de la vida privada de algunos granadinos'', a book collecting short stories by Acevedo with plots drawn from the author's own life and notorious contemporary events, was published posthumously. Acevedo also wrote a stage play in two acts titled ''La coqueta burlada,'' a novel, an autobiography, and other papers that were never published, some of which were purportedly lost to fire.

Marriage and children

Acevedo was married to lawyer and politician Diego Fernándo Gómez. Together, they had two daughters, Amalia and Rosa. Acevedo also adopted a son, Joaquín. Her children married and had children of their own, among them Colombian politician and poet

Adolfo León Gómez Adolfo León Gómez (19 September 1857 – 9 June 1927) was a Colombian poet, jurist and politician born in Pasca, Cundinamarca. He was a grandson of Josefa Acevedo de Gomez, the first secular woman writer in Colombia. His three act play in v ...

Death

In the final years of her life, Acevedo resided in her daughter Rosa's home in the countryside. She died there on 19 January 1861, and was buried in nearby Pasca, Cundinamarca.

Published works

Essays

''Tratado sobre economía doméstica para el uso de las madres de familia i de las amas de casa'' (1848, José A. Cualla) ''Ensayo sobre los deberes de los casados'' (1857, F. Torres Amaya); earlier editions published anonymously

Biographies

''Biografía del General José Acevedo Tejada'', with Alfonso Acevedo (1850, León Echeverría) ''Biografía del doctor Diego Fernando Gómez'' (1854, F. Torres Amaya) ''Recuerdos nacionales: José Acevedo y Gómez'' (1860, Pizano y Pérez) ''Biografía de Vicente Azuero'' (n.d.) ''Biografía de Luis Vargas Tejada'' (n.d.)

Poetry collections

''Oráculo de las flores y las frutas, acomodado a su lenguaje i con doce respuestas en verso'' (1856, F. Torres Amaya) ''Poesías de una Granadina'' (1854, Anselmo León)

Short stories

''Cuadros de la vida privada de algunos granadinos'' (1861, El Mosaico)

Recognition

Poems by Acevedo were included in ''Poetisas americanas'', an 1896 anthology of verse by noted female poets of the Americas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acevedo, Josefa Writers from Bogotá 1803 births 1861 deaths 19th-century Colombian women writers Colombian women poets 19th-century poets Colombian women essayists