Salvador Novo López (30 July 1904 – 13 January 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

r of

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 ...

. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular perceptions of

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, media, the arts, and Mexican society in general. He was a member of

Los Contemporáneos ''Los Contemporáneos'' (which means "The Contemporaries" in English) can refer to a Mexican modernist group, active in the late 1920s and early 1930s, as well as to the literary magazine which served as the group's mouthpiece and artistic vehi ...

, a group of Mexican writers, as well as of the

Mexican Academy of the 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 corr ...

Life & career

Novo defied the

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

and conservative

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

prevalent in 20th century Mexican culture by making almost no efforts to conceal his

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. He was, however, accepted by the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republi ...

. He held official posts related to culture, was elected to the Mexican Language Academy, and had a television program on Mexico City's history. Towards the end of his life, he dyed his hair a bright carrot color and wore many ostentatious rings and colored suits. He has been compared to

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, but unlike Wilde, Novo never suffered the setback of scandal or persecution and remained an accepted and respected member of society and governmental circles until his death. In fact, some sectors resented the fact that a gay writer would align himself so closely with the government and media after the repression of social movements in the 1960s and 1970s. He was well known for his wit. When a party, where young soldiers had been invited by

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

scholar friends of his, had degenerated into a fight and a scandal, Salvador Novo brushed off the whole matter with a factual: "''This is what happens when'' members ''of the intellectual elite try to enter military ''circles''".'' In accordance with tradition, the street on which he lived was renamed after him when he assumed the role of Mexico City's official chronicler, a post held for life.

Tribute

On July 30, 2014, Google showed a

Doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...

celebrating what would have been his 110th birthday.

Works

* 1925 – ''XX Poemas'' (''XX Poems'') * 1933 – ''Nuevo amor'' (''New Love'') * 1933 – ''Espejo'' (''Mirror'') * 1934 – ''Seamen Rhymes'' * 1934 – ''Romance de Angelillo y Adela'' (''Romance of Angelillo and Adela'') * 1934 – ''Poemas proletarios'' (''Proletarian Poems'') * 1934 – ''Never ever'' * 1937 – ''Un poema'' (''A Poem'') * 1938 – ''Poesías escogidas'' (''Chosen Poems'') * 1944 – ''Nuestra tierra'' (''Our Land'') * 1945 – ''Florido laude'' * 1945 – ''La estatua de sal'' (''The Salt Statue'', published in May 2008) * 1955 – ''Dieciocho sonetos'' (''Eighteen Sonets'') * 1955 – ''Sátira, el libro ca...'' (''Satyre, the F*** Book'') * 1961 – ''Poesía'' (''Poetry'') * 1962 – ''Breve historia de Coyoacán'' (''Short History of Coyoacán'') * 1967 – ''Historia gastronómica de la Ciudad de México'' (''Gastronomic History of Mexico City'') * 1967 – ''Imagen de una ciudad'' (''Image of a City'') illustrated with photographs by

Pedro Bayona Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

* 1968 – ''La Ciudad de México en 1867'' (''Mexico City in 1867'') * 1971 – ''Historia y leyenda de Coyoacán'' (''History and Legend of Coyoacán'')

Theatre

Within a 1,000-sq.m.-land purchased in 1950, Salvador Novo decided to build, with the aid of architect Alejandro Prieto, the cultural project "La Capilla", for which purpose he adapted an old chapel as a theatre, which was inaugurated on 22 January 1953. Currently, this set also includes a small restaurant, "El Refectorio", as well as a theatre-bar "El Hábito". * ''Don Quijote'' (1947) * ''Astucia'' (''Witness'') (1948) * ''La culta dama'' (1948) (''The Wise Lady''; it was used to write the script of a homonym Mexican film, directed in 1957 by Rogelio A. González Jr. * ''A ocho columnas'' (''Eight Columns'') (from 1953 on) * ''Diálogos'' (''Dialogues'') * ''Yocasta o casi'' (''Yocasta or Almost'') * ''Cuauhtémoc'' (''Cuauhtémoc'') * ''La guerra de las gordas'' (''The War of the Fat Ones'') * ''Ha vuelto Ulises'' (''Ulises is back'') * ''El sofá'' (''The Sofa'') * ''El espejo encantado'' (''The Enchanted Mirror'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novo, Salvador Gay writers LGBT writers from Mexico 20th-century Mexican poets 20th-century Mexican male writers Mexican male poets Writers from Mexico City 1904 births 1974 deaths Members of the Mexican Academy of Language National Conservatory of Music of Mexico faculty LGBT dramatists and playwrights 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Poets from Mexico City 20th-century LGBT people