César Humberto Andrade y Cordero (1904-1987) was an Ecuadorian poet, short story writer, journalist and lawyer. He was born in

Cuenca Cuenca may refer to: People * Cuenca (surname) Places Ecuador * Cuenca Canton, in the Azuay Province ** Cuenca, Ecuador, capital of Cuenca Canton and Azuay Province ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca Peru * Cuenca District, Huarochirí ...

, the son of Leoncio Andrade Chiriboga and Clotilde Cordero Bravo. He was educated in Cuenca, at the San José de los Hermanos Cristianos School and the Benigno Malo High School (where he also taught later). He worked as editor at the newly founded newspaper ''

El Mercurio (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (''Sociedad Anónima Periodística'' 'joint stock news company'), which operates a network of ...

'' in his city, at the same time attending the local university whence he obtained a law degree in 1933. He published extensively in his lifetime, including works such as "Agreste Symphony", a poem that won the Violeta de Oro prize at the Fiesta de la Lira in 1927, followed by "Barro de Siglos" (short stories, 1932), "Dos Poemas de Abril" (1939), "Ventana al Horizonte" (poems, 1942), "Hombre, Destino y Paisaje" (1945), "Lo Genético y lo Ambiental en el Escritor Azuayo" (1958), etc. In 1959, he published his book of stories "El País de la Gaviota", for which the Municipality of Cuenca awarded him the Fray Vicente Solano medal. Later, in 1965, the national government awarded him the

Orden Nacional al Mérito The National Order of Merit () is a civil order granted by the President of Ecuador. The Order, which is the second highest among the , was established on October 8, 1921, and promulgated in ' No. 337 on October 27, 1921. It was later modified by ...

with the rank of Commander. He wrote for ''

El Telégrafo ''El Telégrafo'' is a Uruguayan newspaper from Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Urug ...

'' and ''

El Universo ( Spanish for "The Universe") is one of the largest daily newspapers in Ecuador. It was founded in 1921 and the first edition was published September 16 of the same year. Its headquarters are located in Guayaquil. The newspaper has been publi ...

'' of Guayaquil, where his articles appeared under the pseudonyms of Jacobo Delavuelta and Gaspar de Sisalema, respectively. He also read his poems on the radio on shows such as La Voz del Tomebamba de Cuenca. He composed songs, for example, the

pasillo Pasillo () is an Ecuadorean and Colombian genre of music popular in the territories that composed the 19th century Viceroyalty of New Granada: Born in the Andes during the independence wars, it spread to other areas; especially Ecuador (where it i ...

''Sabor de lágrimas'' which was popularized by Carlota Jaramillo. In 1944, he was appointed full member of the

Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana La Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (''The House of Ecuadorian Culture'') is a cultural organization founded by Benjamín Carrión on August 9, 1944, during the presidency of Dr Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra. It was created to stimulate, to direct a ...

. In 1977, the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana published an anthology of his poetic work under the title of "Poetry." As a lawyer and professor, he taught philosophy and law at the State University of Cuenca. He died in his hometown on October 10, 1987.

References

{{Ecuador-poet-stub 1904 births 1987 deaths People from Cuenca, Ecuador 20th-century Ecuadorian poets Ecuadorian male poets 20th-century Ecuadorian lawyers Ecuadorian journalists Ecuadorian male short story writers Academic staff of the University of Cuenca