Blanca Martínez Mera
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Blanca Martínez Mera (October 5, 1897 – June 20, 1976) was an
Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
ian writer and teacher. With the publication of her book ''En la paz del campo'' in 1940, she became the first woman to publish a novel in Ecuador.


Biography

Blanca Martínez Mera was born in 1897 in Ambato, in Ecuador's
Tungurahua Tungurahua (; from Quichua ''tunguri'' (throat) and ''rahua'' (fire), "Throat of Fire")) is an active stratovolcano located in the Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador. The volcano gives its name to the province of Tungurahua. Volcanic activity re ...
province. Her parents were Rosario Mera Iturralde and
Luis A. Martínez Luis Alfredo Martínez Holguín (June 23, 1869 in Ambato, Ecuador, Ambato – November 26, 1909) was an Ecuadorian writer, painter, politician, and agriculturist. He introduced Realism (arts), Realism into Ecuadorian literature. He was an opponen ...
, also a well-known writer. She spent her childhood on the family hacienda known as Quinta de Atocha, but she was orphaned by age 12. She completed her secondary studies at the Colegio de la Providencia. In 1921, she married Florencio Tinajero Albornoz, with whom she would go on to have two daughters. She was sometimes known as Blanca Martínez de Tinajero. Early in her career, she served as president of the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
of Ambato. She also taught high school at Colegio Bolívar, later becoming the rector of the Instituto Manuela Cañizares in
Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...
. During her time as an educator she met the politician
José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra (19 March 1893 – 30 March 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. He became president of Ecuador five times, in 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972, and only in 1952–1956 he complete ...
, who, on becoming president of Ecuador, named her
vice consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...
in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. He later named her director of education for her home province of Tungurahua. In 1940, Martínez Mera published the
costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (in Catalan: ''costumisme''; sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is Literary costumbrismo, the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primari ...
novel ''En la paz del campo'', the first novel published by an Ecuadorian woman. She went on to publish two more novels: ''Purificación'' (1942) and ''Luz en la noche'' (1950). Later in life she became the director of the Casa de Montalvo, a museum and cultural center in Ambato, whose eponymous magazine she edited for many years. Martínez Mera died in Ambato in 1976. She is buried in the Nuestra Señora de La Merced Municipal Cemetery. A school in her hometown bears her name in honor of her memory.


Selected works

* ''En la paz del campo'' (1940) * ''Purificación'' (1942) * ''Luz en la noche'' (1950)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martínez Mera, Blanca 1897 births 1976 deaths Ecuadorian novelists Ecuadorian women novelists Ecuadorian educators Ecuadorian women educators Ecuadorian diplomats Ecuadorian women diplomats People from Ambato, Ecuador