Manuel Bernárdez (13 August 1867 – 1942) was a Galician-born

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an diplomat, poet, journalist, and editor.

Life and Family

Bernárdez was the son of Juan Ramón Bernardez and Dolores Filgueira. When he was six, they left

Vilagarcía de Arousa Vilagarcía de Arousa (, ) is a municipality in the province of Province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. As of 2014 it has a population of 37,712, being ninth largest town in Galicia. History The present site of ...

, Galicia, to settle in Arapey,

; he became a naturalized Uruguayan when he reached the legal age. Bernárdez was completely

home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

by his father, having never attended

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

Writings

In his youth, he took to prose and especially poetry, publishing his first volume (''Confidencias, a una joven Amiga'') when he was eighteen. For the next thirty years, he would spend his professional life mainly in the staffs of various periodicals and newspapers at home and abroad; he would also marry Carmen Martínez-Thédy during this time (in 1894), with whom he would have four children. In 1898, he became an editor for ''El Diario'' in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, living there for some time; later, he made a trip to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, writing a book about his journey (''De Buenos Aires al Iguazú''). In 1904 and 1905 respectively, he wrote two volumes on

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in which he celebrated that nation's economic development: ''Viajes por la República Argentina, La nación en marcha'', ''Jornadas del progreso Argentino, Hacia las cumbres''.

Diplomatic career

In 1910, he would become the Uruguayan

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

to Brazil, and then Minister of Uruguay in 1916. He was also the Uruguayan Ambassador to Belgium and the Netherlands during 1926. Bernárdez died in 1942.

List of works

''(Aside from those mentioned before)'' *''Claros de luna'' (1886) *''Memorias de campo'' (1887) *''Ave, Maria!'' *''La muerte de Artigas'' (1891) *''El Tratado de la Asunción'' (1894) *''De Buenos Aires al Iguazú'' (1901) *''El Brasil, su vida su trabajo, su futuro: itinerario periodístico'' (1908) *''Aspectos ejemplares de la nueva Bélgica : las grandes patrias chicas : páginas de una memoria'' (1928) *''Política y Moneda'' (1931) *''Tambos y Rodeos'' 1868 births 1942 deaths People from Vilagarcía de Arousa Spanish emigrants to Uruguay Uruguayan journalists 19th-century Uruguayan poets Uruguayan male poets Uruguayan people of Galician descent Ambassadors of Uruguay to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Uruguay to Belgium 19th-century male writers {{Uruguay-writer-stub