Víctor Domingo Silva Endeiza (May 12, 1882, Tongoy,

Elqui Province Elqui Province ( es, Provincia de Elqui) is a province in the Chilean region of Coquimbo (IV). The provincial capital is the city of Coquimbo. Geography and demography According to the 2012 census by the National Statistics Institute (''INE''), ...

– August 20, 1960,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

) was a Chilean poet, journalist, playwright and writer. He was of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent by mother's side. Silva was born into an educated family who instilled in him a love of literature. In 1906 he was elected diputado (deputy) (a member of the lower house of

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 ...

's bicameral

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 ...

) of the provinces of

Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km nort ...

, Freirina and Chañaral. During his tenure as Deputy, Silva began publishing poetry in

El Mercurio ''El Mercurio'' (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's newspaper of record and it is considered the oldest daily in ...

, a well-known newspaper centered in the Valparaiso region. He was dubbed "''el poeta nacional''" ("the national poet") since he dedicated a good portion of his poetry to national topics, including his celebrated poem, ''La Bandera'' ("The Flag"), in which he exalts his patriotism. Silva entered the diplomatic corps in 1928 and was posted to

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, where he was a driving force behind the establishment of the province of Aisén. Later he was made general consul of Chile and was posted to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

where he remained for a number of years, finally returning to Chile in 1948. In 1954 Chile's national award for literature was bestowed upon him.

Selected poems

* Adolescencia (1906) * Golondrina de invierno (1912) * Palomilla brava (1923) * El alma de Chile (1928), antología poética * El mestizo Alejo (1934) * Poemas de Ultramar (1935) * El cachorro (1937) * La Criollita

Selected plays

* El Rey de la Araucanía (1936) * Aún no se ha puesto el sol (1950) * La tempestad se avecina * El hombre de la casa

References

1882 births 1960 deaths People from Elqui Province Chilean male poets Chilean diplomats Chilean people of Basque descent National Prize for Literature (Chile) winners 20th-century Chilean poets 20th-century Chilean male writers {{Chile-writer-stub