Salomón de la Selva (March 20, 1893 – February 5, 1959) was a

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

n poet and honorary member of the

Mexican Academy of Language The Academia Mexicana de la Lengua (variously translated as the Mexican Academy of Language, the Mexican Academy of the Language, the Mexican Academy of Letters, or glossed as the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language; acronym AML) is the Assoc ...

Biography

Salomón de la Selva was born on March 20, 1893, in León,

, son of Salomón Selva Glenton and Evangelina Escoto Baca and the oldest of nine children. In 1906 at the age of twelve, he is offered a scholarship by the government of

José Santos Zelaya José Santos Zelaya López (1 November 1853 in Managua – 17 May 1919 in New York City) was the President of Nicaragua from 25 July 1893 to 21 December 1909. Early life He was a son of José María Zelaya Irigoyen, who was originally from ...

to study in the United States. Salomón de la Selva first took up his secondary studies at th
Newton Collegiate Institution
in Newton, New Jersey and later a
Westerleigh Collegiate Institute
in Staten Island, New York, studying in the United States until 1910. To cover costs, de la Selva found himself selling newspapers and shoeshining in Central Park in New York City. After his father's passing on February 2, 1910, Salomón de la Selva returns to Nicaragua and begins studying law at

Universidad de León Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. The history of his pursuits in higher education is unclear, but there are records of de la Selva having taken classes at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

between 1913-1915. Around this time he worked for the Spanish-language weekly ''Las Novedades''. He received the title of bachelor in science and letters from the

University of Leon A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in León, Nicaragua. He was later employed at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, from 1916-1917 as a romance language instructor in Spanish and in French.de la Selva, Salomon. General Biographical Files collection, . Williams College Archives & Special Collections. http://archivesspace.williams.edu:8081/repositories/2/archival_objects/73186 Accessed July 23, 2018. By winter 1914-15 he met

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as ''modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and accompanied him to a conference offered at

on February 4, 1915.Mejía Sánchez, Ernesto (1980). ''Acroasis del "Acolmixtli Nezahualcóyotl,"'' Biblioteca Enciclopédica del Estado de México, Mexico. In New York, 1918, he published his first book of poetry: ''Tropical Town and Other Poems'' which was written in English. He frequented the literary circles of young New York poets with figures such as

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, ''John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receive ...

and

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

with whom it was said he had a love affair. From 1917-1918, de la Selva served as a soldier in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

serving the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces, enlisting in the U.S. army on June 5, 1917. He was able to draw from his experiences on the battlefield to inspire future works, specifically ''El soldado desconocido'' (''The Unknown Soldier''), written in Spanish and illustrated by

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

, which was published in Mexico in 1922. Around this time in 1922 he was also romantically involved with American author

Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 – September 18, 1980) was an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. Her 1962 novel ''Ship of Fools'' was the best-selling novel in America that year, but her sho ...

. He associated himself with the American

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

and became secretary to labor union leader

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

. Between 1925 and 1929 he lived in Nicaragua and dedicated himself to the local

syndicalism Syndicalism is a Revolutionary politics, revolutionary current within the Left-wing politics, left-wing of the Labour movement, labor movement that seeks to unionize workers Industrial unionism, according to industry and advance their demands t ...

activism of laborioust tendency. He urged the affiliation of the Nicaraguan Worker's Federation (''Federación Obrera Nicaragüense'') to the Panamerican Worker's Central (''Central Obrera Panamericana''), which was affiliated to the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

.Molina Jiménez, Iván (1999)
"Salomón de la Selva, ¿sandinista?,"
''El nuevo diario'', Managua, Nicaragua: April 17, 1999. In this time, he married Carmela Castrillo and had two children, Carmelita de la Selva Castrillo (1925-1931) and Salomón de la Selva Castrillo (1927). His daughter Carmelita was born whilst de la Selva served as the director of newspaper ''Nicaragua Libre'' of the Nicaraguan Patriotic League and perished in the earthquake which shook Managua on March 31, 1931. By 1930 he had published articles supporting

Augusto César Sandino Augusto C. Sandino (; May 18, 1895 February 21, 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón de Sandino y José de María Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupati ...

published in San José,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

through different media such as the ''Diario de Costa Rica'' and ''

Repertorio Americano ''Repertorio Americano'' was a cultural magazine published in San José, Costa Rica by Joaquín García Monge, on and off between 1919 and 1958. It was a significant forum of discussion for the Latin America Latin America or * french: Amé ...

'' of

Joaquín García Monge Joaquín García Monge (January 20, 1881 – January 1, 1958) is considered one of Costa Rica's most important writers. He was born in Desamparados, Costa Rica in 1881 and was educated in both Costa Rica and Chile, where he fell under the influen ...

.Fiallos Gil, Mariano (1963). ''Salomón de la Selva poeta de la humildad y la grandeza,'' Hospicio, León, Nicaragua. and in 1935 he moved to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, where he was able to influence Mexican politics; along with his brother Rogelio de la Selva, he was advisor to President

Miguel Alemán Valdés Miguel Alemán Valdés (; 29 September 1900 – 14 May 1983) was a Mexican politician who served a full term as the President of Mexico from 1946 to 1952, the first civilian president after a string of revolutionary generals. His administr ...

. In 1933, a son of de la Selva's, Juan, is born in Panama to actress Betty Schroeder. Whilst in France, as a Nicaraguan ambassador for the Government of President Luis Anastasio Somoza, he died on February 5, 1959, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Works

Poetry

* ''Tropical Town and Other Poems'' (1918) * ''A Soldier Sings'' (1919) * ''El soldado desconocido'' (1922) * ''Evocación de Horacio, Canto a Mérida de Yucatán en la celebración de sus Juegos Florales'' (1947) * ''La ilustre familia'' (195) * ''Canto a la Independencia de México'' (1955) * ''Evocación de Píndaro'' (1957) * ''Acolmixtli Netzahualcóyotl'' (1958)

Novels

* ''La guerra de Sandino o el pueblo desnudo'', written in 1935, posthumously published in 1985. *''Narciso, a history of Nicaragua'' (1930)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selva, Salomon De La 20th-century Nicaraguan poets Nicaraguan male poets Nicaraguan journalists Williams College alumni 1959 deaths 1893 births Ambassadors of Nicaragua to France 20th-century male writers 20th-century journalists