Luis Cardoza y Aragón (June 21, 1904 - September 4, 1992) was a Guatemalan writer, essayist, poet, art critic, and diplomat. Born in

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the Guatemalan Highlands, central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque- ...

, he spent part of his life living in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Cardoza attended primary school in Antigua Guatemala and at the Colegio Centroamericano in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

. His received a secondary education in the city's Instituto Nacional Central para Varones. In the 1920s, Cardoza moved to Paris, France where he became friends with

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

. Influenced by the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

members of the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement, his first work titled "''Luna Park''" was published in 1923 and dedicated to the Guatemalan writer

Enrique Gómez Carrillo Enrique Gómez Carrillo (February 27, 1873 in Guatemala City – November 29, 1927 in Paris) was a Guatemalan literary critic, writer, journalist and diplomat, and the second husband of the Salvadoran-French writer and artist Consuelo Suncin de ...

(1873–1927). He also got to know fellow Guatemalan writer

Miguel Ángel Asturias Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; 19 October 1899 – 9 June 1974) was a Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967, his work helped bring attention to the importance of i ...

who came to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Decades later in 1991 Cardoza wrote a book entitled ''Miguel Ángel Asturias, Casi Novela'' (Ediciones Era) about their time in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s that earned him the 1992 Mazatlan Literature award in Mexico.

Exile and diplomatic career

Luis Cardoza was appointed Consul General of Guatemala in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

under the Guatemalan government of Lázaro Chacón but in the early 1930s left the job and his country because of the dictatorial rule of new President

Jorge Ubico Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the president of Guatemala from 1931 to 1944. A ge ...

. He chose to live in self-imposed exile in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

where he became a member of the

Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios The ''Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios'' (LEAR; League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists) was a Mexican association of revolutionary artists and writers. It was established in the house of its first president Leopoldo Méndez in 19 ...

(LEAR), an artist and intellectual group (Renato Leduc, Federico Cantú. Federico Cantú Garza Luis Ortiz Monasterio, Alfonso Reyes, Jose Moreno Villa) that at the time had considerable influence on the artistic, cultural and political life of Mexico. In 1936 Cardoza welcomed to Mexico the French artist

Antonin Artaud Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...

who had been an early influence as part of the Surrealist movement in Paris. Following the 1944 overthrow of the military dictatorship of General Jorge Ubico in Guatemala, Luis Cardoza was elected to the Asamblea Constituyente (Constituent Assembly). In 1945, the new

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

government made him Guatemala's envoy to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and the Soviet Union and two years later in 1947 he was appointed Ambassador to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and later Ambassador to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and then France. Political turmoil and the ensuing

Guatemalan Civil War The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...

saw Cardoza flee his country again and return to live in Mexico where he made a living working for the newspaper, ''El Nacional''. While there, he became associated with

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

s such as

David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...

and

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

as well as with members of the writers group, "Contemporáneos". In 1974 he was called "one of the most interesting unknowns in Latin America ..whose work somehow never attracted much attention, by rights he should have ranked with

Carlos Pellicer Carlos Pellicer Cámara (10 January 1897 – 16 February 1977) was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was active in the promotion of Mexican art, pictures, and literature. An enthusiastic traveler, his work is filled with ...

Xavier Villaurrutia Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...

. Perhaps because he was Guatemalan he never seemed to receive critical notice.""Literature" article in ''Britannica Book of the Year 1975'' (covering events of 1974), subsection on "Latin America" sub-subsection on "Poetry", page 470 (article writers listed as Jean Franco and Salvador Barros Before his death in Mexico City in 1992, Luis Cardoza received wide acclaim for his writings, especially for those on art.

Assorted works

* ''Luna Park'' (1923) * ''Maelstrom'' (1926) * ''La torre de Babel'' (1930) * ''Catálogo de pinturas'' (1934) * ''El sonámbulo'' (1937) * ''Mexican Art Today'' (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943) * ''Pequeña sinfonía del Nuevo Mundo'' (1949) * ''Pintura mexicana contemporánea'' (1953) * ''Guatemala, Las líneas de su mano' (1955) * ''Quinta estación'' (1974), containing all of his poems up to that point; published without dates, notes or bibliography * ''Miguel Ángel Asturias, Casi Novela'' (Miguel Ángel Asturias, Almost a Novel) (1991) For a full list of works, see also:
Bibliografía de Luis Cardoza y Aragón
- Roberto Fuertes Manjón,

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. As of Fall 2024, MSU Texas enrolled 5,324 students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in ...

Honors

* 1970 : honorary degree from the Faculty of Humanities,

University of San Carlos The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionarie ...

in Guatemala. * 1978 : "Quetzal de Jade" award from the Association of Journalists of Guatemala * 1978 : "Order of Diego de Porres" from the Consejo Nacional para la protección de Antigua Guatemala * 1979 : " Condecoración del Aguila Azteca" - Mexico's highest award given to foreigners * 1992 : Mazatlan Literature Award for his book ''Miguel Ángel Asturias, Casi Novela''

Memorials

* The ''Galería Luis Cardoza y Aragón'' is an art exposition area at the

Centro Cultural Bella Época The Centro Cultural Bella Epoca is a cultural 3,000 square meter cultural centre in the Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City. It includes the Rosario Castellanos bookshop (claimed to be the largest bookshop in Latin America) which carries over 35 ...

in Condesa, Mexico named in his honor. * Mexico awards the ''Luis Cardoza y Aragón National Prize of Art Critique'' * The ''Luis Cardoza y Aragón Popular Culture Center'' in

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

provides classes in art, music, and English to local children of Quetzaltenango who come from disadvantaged families. * The ''Luis Cardoza y Aragón Auditorium'' at the Mexican Embassy in Guatemala is named in his honor.

External links

Luis Cardoza y Aragon
on the Guatemalan Literature Webpage

References

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Stanford Humanities Review Vol. 7.1 1999
an

* Article - ''Artaud en México'' Plural: Crítica, Arte, Literatura. 19 (1973) * Cáceres, ''Luis Cardoza y Aragón y el

Grupo Saker-Ti Grupo Saker-Ti was a Guatemalan group of writers formed in 1947. The name derives from the Cakchiquel language word for "dawn." Because they were Left-wing politics, left-wing ideologues who supported the democratically elected presidents of Guatem ...

''. (2002) Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala: Centro de Estudios Urbanos y Regionales
Biographical information on the Centeneray of Luis Cardoza y Aragón
(Spanish language) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardoza y Aragon, Luis 1901 births 1992 deaths People from Sacatepéquez Department 20th-century Guatemalan poets 20th-century Guatemalan male writers Guatemalan male poets Guatemalan essayists Male essayists Guatemalan art critics Members of the Congress of Guatemala Guatemalan expatriates in Mexico Ambassadors of Guatemala to Colombia Ambassadors of Guatemala to Chile Ambassadors of Guatemala to France 20th-century essayists Ministers of foreign affairs of Guatemala