San Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís is a city and municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the east region of the country; it is among the 10 largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The ...
– 11 July 2000,
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional)
, webs ...
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
of the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
by
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
in 1984, and a member of the generation of "Independent poets of the 1940s" in Dominican poetry.
His father, Pedro Celestino Mir Burgal, a Cuban mechanical engineer from
Guantánamo
Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province.
Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...
, migrated from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
to the Dominican Republic in the early years of the Twentieth Century to be hired as Chief of Engineers of the Cristóbal Colón Sugar Refinery. Soon he married a young Puerto Rican girl, Jacoba Vicenta Valentín Mendoza from
Humacao
Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...
and had a son whom he named Pedro Julio.
Life and career
Pedro Julio Mir spent his youth in the sugar refinery, which was located near the city of
San Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís is a city and municipality (''municipio'') in the Dominican Republic and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the east region of the country; it is among the 10 largest cities of the Dominican Republic. The ...
. His mother, died prematurely, in 1917, which impressed upon him a profound sense of loss that he would later consider the root of his poetical vocation.
In the early years of the 1930s, Pedro Julio Mir started writing and publishing his poems in Dominican newspapers (under the full name "Pedro Julio Mir"), as well as showing them to his friends. One of those friends, without his consent, took some verses to Juan Bosch, a prominent Dominican writer of the time. Bosch noticed the natural poetic fiber of the young author, but dismissed the verses saying that the poet, though talented, should "turn his eyes to his country". When Mir was informed of Bosch's reaction, he decided then to write his first social poems, and this time, he sent them to Bosch himself. Bosch made no immediate remark; however, he had the verses published very soon in his column of the ''
Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo
The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) (Autonomous University of Santo Domingo) is the public university system in the Dominican Republic with its flagship campus in the Ciudad Universitaria (lit. University City) neighborhood of San ...
(UASD) State University in 1941 and starting a practice in an office of the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo. However, the pressure of the Trujillo dictatorship became unbearable, especially for anybody with social concerns. His poems were putting him up against the regime, so after receiving threats and feeling his life in danger, he fled to Cuba in 1947. The exile would last sixteen years, until the regime fell in 1963. During the exile he traveled to many countries, but spent most of the time in Cuba.
It was while living precariously in Cuba that he wrote his famous poem "Hay un país en el mundo" (There is a country in the world). Originally published in Spanish in 1949, it has been translated to dozens of languages.
In 1952, Mir published in Guatemala his ''Contracanto a Walt Whitman (canto a nosotros mismos)'' (Countersong to Walt Whitman (Song of Ourselves)), considered one of his most accomplished works. (Its title references Whitman's "
Song of Myself
"Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman (18191892) that is included in his work '' Leaves of Grass''. It has been credited as "representing the core of Whitman's poetic vision."Greenspan, Ezra, ed. ''Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself": A Sourceb ...
".) Translated to many languages, the poem has been the subject of many studies in the United States and other countries.
Mir returned to the Dominican Republic in 1963, during the democratic government of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Juan Bosch. After Bosch's government was overthrown the same year, Mir, seriously ill, traveled again for a while, though he finally settled with his family in the Dominican capital in 1968, winning the Chair of Aesthetics at the UASD.
Mir also committed himself to historical research. His essay ''Las raíces dominicanas de la doctrina Monroe'' (The Dominican Roots of the Monroe Doctrine) (1974) won the Annual History Award given by the Secretary of Education of the Dominican Republic.
In 1975, his poem ''El huracán Neruda'' (The Hurricane Neruda) also won the Annual Poetry Award given by the Secretary of Education of the Dominican Republic.
His only novel ''Cuando amaban las tierras comuneras'' (When They Loved the Communal Land) was published in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
in 1978 and has been highly regarded in the Dominican Republic as well as internationally.
In 1984, the Dominican Congress named him "Poet Laureate of the Dominican Republic".
In 1991, Mir traveled to New York to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, ''
honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'', from the
Hunter College of the City University of New York
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...
.
In 1993, Mir was awarded the Dominican National Literature Award for his lifetime achievements.
Pedro Mir died peacefully on 11 July 2000 surrounded by his family, after a long pulmonary illness.
In 2017 Ediciones Cielonaranja has published his "Poesía Completa".
A
metro station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in t ...
in Santo Domingo is named after him.
List of works
*Hay un país en el mundo (1949)
*Contracanto a Walt Whitman (1952)
*Seis momentos de esperanza (1953)
*Poemas de buen amor y a veces de fantasía (1969)
*Amén de mariposas (1969)
*Tres leyendas de colores (1969)
*El gran incendio (1969)
*Viaje a la muchedumbre (1971)
*Apertura a la estética (1974)
*Las raíces dominicanas de la doctrina Monroe (1974)
*El huracán Neruda (1975)
*La gran hazaña de Límber y después otoño (1977)
*Cuando amaban las tierras comuneras (1978)
*Fundamentos de teoría y crítica del arte (1979)
*La noción del período en la historia dominicana (1981)
*¡Buen viaje, Pancho Valentín! (Memorias de un marinero) (1981)
*Historia del hambre en la República Dominicana (1987)
*Estética del soldadito (1991)
*El lapicida de los ojos morados (1991)
*Primeros versos (1993)
*Ayer menos cuarto y otras crónicas (2000)
"Letras dispersas (2013)
See also
*
American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On November 12, 200 ...