Teresa Lamas Carísimo de Rodríguez Alcalá (1887 – 1976) was a Paraguayan author, writing primarily in the genre of ''

costumbrismo ''Costumbrismo'' (in Catalan: ''costumisme''; sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic sce ...

''. Her book ''Tradiciones del hogar'' was the first novel written by a woman in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Biography

Lamas Carísimo was born in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, Paraguay, in 1887, although her birth year is sometimes reported as being 1889. Her parents were Vicente Lamas and Clementina Carísimo, members of the local colonial elite. She received a public education and began writing at a young age; in 1919, she won first prize in a national story-writing contest. She published ''Tradiciones del hogar'', a collection of vignettes on family life and nationalist themes in the style known as ''costumbrista'' or ''tradición'', in 1921. It was well received by the literary community and was important to the country's national mythmaking after the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

.Rozas, Cristina Bravo (April 2015)
Aproximación al estudio del cuento paraguayo del siglo XX
" Inti: ''Revista de literatura hispánica'': No. 81, Article 10. ''Tradiciones de hogar'' was followed with a second volume in 1928. She published two later works in the 1940s and '50s: ''Huerto de Odios'' and ''La casa y tu sombra''. She also contributed to various newspapers. Lamas Carísimo was also known for her philanthropic work; she co-founded the National Association of Charitable Dames, an anti-

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

organization, in 1918 and was a member of the local

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Selected works

* ''Tradiciones del hogar, Volume I'' (1921) * ''Tradiciones del hogar, Volume II'' (1928) * ''Huerto de Odios'' (1944) * ''La casa y su sombra'' (1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamas de Rodruigex Alcala, Teresa 1887 births 1976 deaths Paraguayan women writers