Román Mayorga Rivas (1862 – 28 December 1925) was a Nicaraguan journalist and poet. He is considered the founder of modern journalism in El Salvador.

Biography

Mayorga Rivas was born in 1862 in

León, Nicaragua León () is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. Founded by the Spanish as Santiago de los Caballeros de León, it is the capital and largest city of León Department. , the municipality of León has an estimated population of ...

. Mayorga Rivas was the son of the politician Cleto Mayorga, and the grandson of the Nicaraguan President

Patricio Rivas Patricio Rivas (1810 – July 12, 1867) was a wealthy liberal Nicaraguan lawyer and politician, member of the Democratic Party (Nicaragua), Democratic Party, who served as Acting President of Nicaragua, Supreme Director of Nicaragua from June 30, ...

. He was a childhood friend 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 ...

and

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

. He moved to the city of

San Salvador, El Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

at the age of twelve and studied at the school of Hildebrando Martí and Anselmo Valdés. In 1876, he founded the newspaper ''El cometa'', and he later founded ''Diario del cometa'' (1878) and ''El estudiante''. In late 1879 he returned to Nicaragua to participate in intellectual life of his hometown, León. Between 1884 and 1886, Mayorga Rivas published his first three-volume anthology, ''Guirnalda Salvadoreña'', which collected biographical information and the works of Salvadoran poets. During this period, he also founded the newspaper ''El independiente'' in

Granada, Nicaragua Granada () is a city in western Nicaragua and the capital of the Granada Department. With an estimated population of 105,862 (2022), it is Nicaragua's ninth most populous city. Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, econ ...

, the city where he also was married. After returning to El Salvador, he established the newspaper ''Diario del Salvador'' (1895–1932), one of the most important newspapers in Central Americal and the most modern of that era—and the newspaper for which a duplex printer was first brought to El Salvador. In his journalism, Mayorga Rivas collaborated with many notable writers, including

Francisco Gavidia Francisco Antonio Gavidia Guandique (1863 in San Miguel – 24 September 1955 in San Salvador) was a prominent Salvadoran writer, historian, politician, speaker, translator, educator and journalist. His poetry evolved from romanticism to a r ...

David J. Guzmán David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

, Porfirio Barba Jacob (known as Ricardo Arenales), and

José María Peralta Lagos José María Peralta Lagos (25 July 1873 – 22 July 1944), was a Salvadoran writer, military engineer, and politician. He wrote under the pseudonym T.P. Mechín. Biography Peralta Lagos was born on 25 July 1873 in Santa Tecla, El Salvador ...

. In the field of literature, Mayorga Rivas is considered a part of the second wave of romanticism in El Salvador, and also an important promoter of ''

modernismo ''Modernismo'' is a literary movement that took place primarily during the end of the nineteenth and early 20th century in the Spanish-speaking world, best exemplified by Rubén Darío, who is known as the father of ''modernismo''. The term ''m ...

''. He also translated from English, Italian, Portuguese, and French. He became a member of the

Academia Salvadoreña de la Lengua The Academia Salvadoreña de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Salvadoran Academy of Language'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in El Salvador. It was founded in San Salvador on October 19, 1876. It is a member ...

in 1915, and that year he also published his only book of poetry, ''Viejo y nuevo''. As a public official, Mayorga Rivas headed the ''Oficina Central de Estadística'' in El Salvador. He also served as Secretary of the Nicaraguan Embassy in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and Public Instruction in Nicaragua, and El Salvador's envoy to the Panamerican Conference in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. Mayorga Rivas died on 28 December 1925 in San Salvador, El Salvador.

References

Bibliography

External links

Guirnalda Salvadoreña
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayorga, Roman 1862 births 1925 deaths People from León, Nicaragua Nicaraguan people of Spanish descent Nicaraguan emigrants to El Salvador Salvadoran journalists Male journalists Nicaraguan journalists Salvadoran poets Male poets Salvadoran male writers Nicaraguan male poets 19th-century Nicaraguan poets 19th-century Salvadoran writers 20th-century Salvadoran writers 20th-century Nicaraguan poets