Mercedes Carvajal de Arocha known as Lucila Palacios (8 November 1902 – 31 August 1994) was a Trinidadian-

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n writer, politician and diplomat. She was the first female elected to the

Venezuelan Senate The Senate of Venezuela was the upper house of Venezuela's legislature under its 1961 constitution. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly of Venezuela. However, since 1999 the former cham ...

and the first female member of the

Venezuelan Academy of Language The Academia Venezolana de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Venezuelan Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on Venezuelan Spanish, the variant of the Spanish language in Venezuela. It was founded in Caracas on July 26, 1883. I ...

Life

Carvajal was born on the island of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in 1902 in

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. She took the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Lucila Palacios. She chose the name of Lucila in honour of the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an poet

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Lite ...

whose real first name was Lucila. Her new surname was taken from Concepción Palacios who was

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

's mother.Tomado de los Libros: "¿Qué Celebramos Hoy?" de Vinicio Romero Martínez y Segunda edición "Dicionario de Historia de Venezuela". Fundación Polar. 4.º tomo. Segunda edición She married Carlos Arocha and they had four children. In 1931 she began writing and in 1947 she was a representative in the National Constituent Assembly. From 1948 to 1952 she was a senator. During this time she was raped. She was known for defending the rights of women and children. She wrote short stories, poems and novels in Spanish. She won a number of prestigious awards and she was the first woman member of the

Academia Venezolana de la Lengua The Academia Venezolana de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Venezuelan Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on Venezuelan Spanish, the variant of the Spanish language in Venezuela. It was founded in Caracas on July 26, 1883. ...

who are interested in

Venezuelan Spanish Venezuelan Spanish ( or ) refers to the Spanish spoken in Venezuela. Spanish was introduced in Venezuela by colonists. Most of them were from Galicia, Basque Country, Andalusia, or the Canary Islands. The last has been the most fundamental ...

. In 1963 she became her country's ambassador to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Carvajal died in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

in 1994.

Legacy

Her novels have been studied and published as ''The Political Novels of Lucila Palacios and Marta Lynch''.

References

1902 births 1994 deaths People from Port of Spain Immigrants to Venezuela Trinidad and Tobago emigrants Venezuelan people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Venezuelan women writers Members of the Senate of Venezuela 20th-century Venezuelan women politicians 20th-century Venezuelan politicians Members of the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly of 1946 {{Venezuela-writer-stub