Carlos Pezoa Véliz (July 21, 1879 – April 21, 1908) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

from Chile. His literary work remained largely unpublished until his death at the age of 28. He was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

recognized as a major figure in the history of Chilean poetry.

Biography

Family and youth

Pezoa Véliz was born in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

on July 21, 1879, and was the illegitimate son of a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

immigrant named Moyano and a young seamstress Elvira Jaña. Early in his infancy he was adopted by José María Pezoa and Emerecia Véliz, an elderly couple who had no children of their own.Espectáculos: Carlos Moyano Jaña y Carlos Pezoa Véliz - Viernes 1 de agosto de 2008
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Literary career

His

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

was written within the

post-modernist Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the worl ...

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

movement, which broke with the

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

and Parnassian schools of

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (18 January 1867 – 6 February 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 ...

’s

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. The poetry of Pezoa Véliz constituted a conscious use of language as a basis for a new vision of the world and in particular a novel way of observing the cultural and psychological roots of all things Chilean. Pezoa Véliz could be considered a founding poet and fundamental figure in the history of Chilean poetry – which has given the world of literature figures like

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator, and Catholic. She was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Franciscan order. She was ...

, Gonzalo Rojas and

Nicanor Parra Nicanor Segundo Parra Sandoval (5 September 1914 – 23 January 2018) was a Chilean physicist and poet. He has been considered one of the most influential Spanish-language Chilean poets of the 20th century. Parra described himself as an " an ...

. During his lifetime his body of work was published in journals and periodical publications which were compiled in 1911 - four years after the poet's death - by Ernesto Montenegro under the title of ''Alma Chilena'' (The Chilean Soul) – the name of one of Pezoa Véliz's most renowned and cited poem. Subsequently, in 1927, Armando Donoso published a new book including new poems, short stories and journalistic articles under the title ''Campanas de Oro'' (The Golden Chimes), which were later on broadened by Nicomedes Guzman in his ''Antología de Carlos Pezoa Véliz'' (Anthology of Carlos Pezoa Véliz) (1957; 2 ed 1966). A poet representative of the roots and voice of the

Chilean people Chileans (, ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the country of Chile and its neighboring Insular Chile, insular territories. Most Chileans share a common Culture of Chile, culture, History of Chile, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry ...

; his themes and subject matter derived from sensitive reflections of rural and urban life, impoverished peasants, renegades, the marginalized, the humiliated and fallen. With a language employing both colloquialism and irony, which is interrupted at times by despair and melancholy. His work constitutes a poetry of rebellion, of denunciation, of

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

, of

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

, and in addition, a lyricism that is both simplistic and profound, in which some critics have seen antecedents of

. At the end of the 19th century, he began to publish poems and chronicles on the ''El búcaro santiaguino'', which he did whilst he was a teacher at the San Fidel School, a position from where he was ultimately fired for his intensely bohemian lifestyle. His major literary influences were Manuel Gutierrez Nájera,

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Spanish Romance literature, Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, columni ...

and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

and a taste for

for its “oddities” which was influential in the era; but in his work there is also a social element which could have been derived from reading

Maxim Gorki Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an auth ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

. Subsequently, at the beginning of the 20th century, he took a position as a journalist in the ''El Chileno'', ''La Comedia Humana'' and ''La Voz del Pueblo'' newspapers. This occupation as a journalist served as a medium that allowed Pezoa Véliz to get close – albeit, as reporter - to the workings and customs of the offices of nitrate mines of the north of Chile, which was vividly documented in his short story: ''El taita de la oficina''. (The office daddy) These publications appeared regularly in the press and began to give him notoriety in literary and social circles. This notoriety earned him the a prominent position in the ''Ateneo de Santiago''. Later on he was designated ''Municipal Secretary of

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

,'' a city that with

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

played a fundamental role in his cultural and personal life. He continued publishing poetry, verse and narratives in the magazine ''La lira chilena'' (The Chilean lyric poem), ''Pluma y lapis'' (Writer and pen) and ''Luz y sombra'' (Light and shadow) ''inter alia''. From anthologies compiled posthumously, including ''El perro vagabundo'' (The vagabond dog), ''Nada'' (Nothing), ''El pintor pereza'' (The idle painter), ''El organillo'' (The Hand Organ) ''inter alia'', remain his most acclaimed poems.

Literary publications

*''Alma chilean'' (1911) *''Las campanas de oro'' (1920) *''Cuentos y Artículos'' (1927) *''La lira chilena'' *''Pluma y lapis'' *''Luz y sombra'' *''El perro vagabundo'' *''Nada'' *''El pintor pereza'' *''El organillo'' *''El taita de la oficina'' *''Antología de Carlos Pezoa Véliz'' (1957) *''Carlos Pezoa Véliz, Poesias liricas''

References

External links

Selection of poems by Carlos Pezoa Véliz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pezoa Veliz, Carlos 1879 births 1908 deaths Chilean journalists Chilean male journalists Chilean male poets Chilean people of Spanish descent Modernismo Writers from Santiago, Chile 19th-century Chilean poets 19th-century Chilean male writers