Mercedes Rein (19 November 1930 – 31 December 2006) was a Uruguayan writer, translator, and dramatist.

Biography

Mercedes Rein was a Professor of Literature in Secondary Education. In 1955 she earned a travel scholarship to the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

to study philosophy and letters. She was also an assistant of Hispano-American Literature at the

University of the Republic The University of the Republic ( es, Universidad de la República, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is Uruguay's oldest public university. It is by far the country's largest university, as well as the second largest public university in South America and t ...

's Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, a position from which she was dismissed by the dictatorship. In 1956 she became a contributor to the newspaper ''

Marcha Marcha (born Margaretha Hendrika Maria Groeneveld on 2 July 1956), also known as Marga Bult, is a Dutch singer and television presenter, who has been a member of the groups Tulip, Babe (Dutch band), Babe and Dutch Divas and is also known for her ...

'', where she intermittently performed literary and theatrical criticism. Rein was one of the members of the jury, along with

Juan Carlos Onetti Juan Carlos Onetti Borges (July 1, 1909 – May 30, 1994) was a Uruguayan novelist and author of short stories. Early life Onetti was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was the son of Carlos Onetti, a customs official, and Honoria Borges, who b ...

and

Jorge Ruffinelli Jorge Enrique Ruffinelli Altesor (born 1943 in Uruguay) is a Uruguayan academic and critic.

, of the weekly's fateful short story contest, for which Onetti, she, and the author of the story "El guardaespaldas", , were imprisoned in 1974. Rein was part of the independent theater movement. Her play ''El herrero y la muerte'', written with Jorge Curi, was on the bill for more than six years at the . ''Juana de Asbaje'' (1993) won her the for the best play of the year. As a translator (especially of German, as a result of her stay in Germany), she translated texts by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

(''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'', ''The Threepenny Opera'', ''Life of Galileo''), Arthur Miller, and

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-g ...

, among others, into Spanish, which she later took to the stage. She also translated ''Der Kontrabaß'' by

Patrick Süskind Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'', first published in 1985. Early life Süskind was born in Ambach, Bavaria. His father was writer and jo ...

into Spanish as ''El contrabajo''. As a narrator, her disturbing ''Zoologismos'' (1967) stands out. With its delirious and obsessive invasion of ghostly presences, it is perhaps the most accomplished of her narrative output. She was also responsible for the lyrics of several songs by Jorge Lazaroff. As a teacher, in her essay work, in addition to academic works on the German philosopher Ernst Cassirer and the writers

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...

and Nicanor Parra, there are also some simple manuals of pedagogical design. Mercedes Rein was a contributor to the weekly '' Brecha'' and a member of the

Academia Nacional de Letras The Academia Nacional de Letras (English: "National Academy of Letters") is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Uruguay. It was founded in Montevideo on February 10, 1943. Among the first members were Cardi ...

Works

Literature

* ''Zoologismos'' (short stories, , Montevideo, 1967) * ''Casa vacía'' (novel, Arca, Montevideo, 1984) * ''Bocas de tormenta'' (novel, Arca, Montevideo, 1987) * ''Blues de los domingos'' (short stories, Arca, Montevideo, 1990) * ''El archivo de Soto'' (historical novel, Trilce, Montevideo, 1993) * ''Marea Negra'' (novel, Planeta, 1996) * ''La máquina de trinar'' (poetry, Editorial Libros de la Academia, Montevideo, 2007)

Theater

* ''La balada de los años cuerdos'' (children's theater, 1964) * ''El herrero y la muerte'' (with Jorge Curi, 1981) * ''Entre gallos y medias noches'' (with Jorge Curi) * ''Juana de Asbaje'' (1993, for best play of the year) * ''Misia Urraca'' (children's theater)

Essays

* ''Ernst Cassirer y la filosofía del lenguaje'' (FHC,

, Montevideo, 1959) * ''A propósito de Vallejo y algunas dificultades para conocer la poesía'' (1966) * ''Julio Cortázar, el escritor y sus máscaras'' (Diaco, 1969) * ''Nicanor Parra y la antipoesía'' (University of the Republic, Montevideo, 1971) * ''Cortázar y Carpentier'' (Editorial Crisis, Buenos Aires, 1974) * ''La generación del 98'' (Editorial Técnica, Montevideo, 1974) * ''Introducción a la poesía de Alberto Machado'' (Editorial Técnica, 1974) * ''Florencio Sánchez, su vida y su obra'' (Casa del Estudiante, 1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rein, Mercedes 1930 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Uruguayan educators 20th-century Uruguayan women writers 20th-century Uruguayan writers 21st-century Uruguayan poets 21st-century Uruguayan women writers German–Spanish translators Members of the Uruguayan Academy of Language University of Hamburg alumni Academic staff of the University of the Republic (Uruguay) Uruguayan women dramatists and playwrights Uruguayan literary critics Uruguayan women literary critics Uruguayan novelists Uruguayan women critics Uruguayan theatre critics Women theatre critics Uruguayan translators Uruguayan women educators Uruguayan women essayists Uruguayan women novelists Uruguayan women poets Uruguayan women short story writers Uruguayan short story writers Writers from Montevideo 20th-century translators 20th-century essayists