HORACIO QUIROGA: BIOGRAPHY, WORKS AND AWARDS RECEIVED - LITERATURE - 2024

Schedule Quiroga, known as the master of the Latin American short story, was one of the most prolific writers of this literary genre. He knew in his own skin the gloomy shades of human tragedy; However, he was able to sublimate the horror of his personal misfortunes to transform them into true gems of narrative art.

By chance of fate, young Horacio received an invitation that marked him forever. He ventured in the company of his teacher to photograph ruins in the thick of the Argentine jungle; each shutter awakened a hunger for adventure in his spirit.

Since then, he dedicated a good part of his life to capturing that vegetation and its creatures with words, capturing their rawness and tenderness in detail. Quiroga is an obligatory reference for universal letters, an indispensable author for those who wish to immerse themselves in the imaginary of the wild south.

Quiroga's prose is sometimes stained with the color of death, and no wonder, since it was always present in the life of this writer.

Biography

Horacio Quiroga was the youngest son of Prudencio Quiroga and Juana Petrona Forteza. Horacio Silvestre Quiroga Forteza, was born in the city of Salto, Uruguay, on December 31, 1878. He had three older brothers: Pastora, María and Prudencio.

His father was an Argentine revolutionary whose ancestor was the famous liberal caudillo Facundo Quiroga, an important actor in the political history of his nation.

He served as vice consul and also owned a company specializing in maritime business, also having his own boat factory.

His mother came from a family linked to the literary and artistic circles of Uruguay. Horacio learned from her to love stories and books.

The Quiroga-Forteza family was consolidated economically and emotionally. However, a black cloud covered the joy of that home: as a baby, Horacio contracted a lung condition that generated a strong cough.

Start of tragedy

On medical recommendation, her parents went to spend a few days in a nearby farm with warm weather. Just two months old, Horacio witnessed (from his mother's arms) the accident that left him orphaned as a father.

In a stumble when getting off his boat, a loaded shotgun fired an accurate shot to the head. This sequence of misfortunes took the life of Prudencio Quiroga in 1879.

A widow, with four children behind her back, “Pastora” (as her mother was called) set out to rebuild her life and finances, so she married a man from Salta named Ascencio Barcos.

Everything indicates that he was a benevolent stepfather and attentive to the children of his consort; however, once again the shadow of mourning would cover the now home of Barcos-Forteza.

Another sadness

In 1896 Ascencio was the victim of a cerebral hemorrhage. This left him semi paralyzed and with serious problems speaking.

These sequels were very difficult to cope with. Prisoner of despair and helplessness, he decided to end his life with a shotgun. This he did precisely when Horacio (already a teenager) was entering the room in which his stepfather was.

Jungle experience

Quiroga received part of his training at the Polytechnic Institute of Salto. There he met who would be his godfather in letters, the also writer Leopoldo Lugones, born in 1898.

It was precisely he who invited him later as a photography assistant on a journey of exploration to the ruins of a Jesuit construction located in the jungle of Misiones, Argentina.

The atmosphere of the place and its beneficial effect on his health captivated the young Uruguayan, so he later built a wooden house with his own hands on the edge of the Paraná River where he made his home.

Debut lyrics

Back in the city, the young Horacio entered the literary sphere. He gave signs of approach to writing with his collection of poems Los arrecifes de coral in 1901.

Its leading authors were the American Edgar Allan Poe, the French René Albert Guy de Maupassant and the Italian Gabriele D'Annunzio.

He learned the art of storytelling in a self-taught way, erring and correcting. In the midst of this experimentation, Quiroga wrote stories for periodicals.

In order to exchange knowledge and techniques, he held meetings with a group of colleagues who are fond of reading and writing, forming what they called "The consistory of Gay knowledge." Quiroga, who also showed journalistic inclinations, founded the Revista de Salto.

Murder

Death intervened again in Quiroga's life. His friend, Federico Ferrando, received a call to duel with a journalist.

Horacio, worried about Fernando who did not know about weapons, offered to check and adjust the pistol he would use in the fight. By accident the gun went off, killing his friend on the spot.

Horacio remained in prison for four days, until his innocence was determined and he was released. It was a painful experience for Horacio, who was then 24 years old.

Ironically, a few days before, Horacio had finished one of his stories called “El tonel del amontillado” (Poe's homonymous tale written in his honor) in which the protagonist takes the life of his friend.

Professional life

In 1903 he began teaching as a secondary school literature teacher, but gave up trying to teach as the students seemed to have no interest.

He chose to earn his bread by doing what he liked. In 1905 he began working as a contributor to a widely circulated weekly magazine called Caras y Caretas. He also wrote for other publications of the time.

These commissions had strict guidelines that had to be met in order to be published. More than an obstacle, this represents a guide to fine-tune the Uruguayan's narrative skills.

Nuptials

In 1909, when he was thirty years old, Horacio fell in love and married his student Ana María Cieres. She inspired him to write a novel: The murky love.

At that time Quiroga owned a piece of land in San Ignacio, Misiones jungle, and the couple went to live there. At the age of two his first-born, Eglé, was born; a year later the second son of the family arrived, Darío.

Horacio was in charge of personally educating his children not only academically, but also in relation to survival in the jungle and strengthening their character.

At that time, in addition to performing his work as a writer, Horacio worked as a justice of the peace in the town where he lived.

The people's justice of the peace had functions similar to those of a civil chief; therefore, it kept records of births, deaths, and other events.

Quiroga, in his particular style, recorded these events on pieces of paper that he kept in a biscuit tin. Everything seemed to be going well, but a new tragedy was at the door.

Suicide

Some affirm that out of jealousy and others maintain that because they cannot adapt to the jungle environment; the truth is that, in an irrational outburst, the young wife ingests an antiseptic that poisons her.

The agony lasted 8 long days, in which he regretted what he had done but there was no reversal. Maria died of intestinal bleeding. On February 10, 1915, Horacio was left alone with his two children.

Shocked and depressed by what happened, and in his new and difficult condition as a father-widower, Horacio burned all the belongings and photographs of his dead wife at a stake.

Back to town

He left for Buenos Aires and rented a basement to live with the children. There he wrote his Tales of the jungle, a book of stories about animals with which he surely entertained and taught his little ones.

In 1916 he met the writer Alfonsina Storni. A very close friendship united them ever since. He invited her to go with him to Misiones, but she declined the offer. However, her affections remained.

After a while, Quiroga fell in love with another young woman named Ana María. At only 17 years old, the girl did not obtain permission from her parents for the relationship, who made war on the writer until they separated. This fact inspired another of his novels. Past love.

In 1927 Quiroga fell in love again. This time it was from a fellow student of her daughter. The young woman was called María Elena Bravo and she was 30 years younger than her suitor. However, she accepted it.

Remarriage

The renowned writer married María Elena Bravo and left Buenos Aires to enter Misiones with his new wife. In 1928 his third daughter was born, María Elena, nicknamed "pitoca" by her father.

After nine years of marriage, the relationship deteriorated. María Elena abandoned Horacio and took her daughter to Buenos Aires.

Sickness and death

Quiroga, already consolidated as a writer, remained in Misiones despite presenting health problems; severe abdominal pains afflicted him. He was admitted to the Hospital de Clínicas de Buenos Aires, where he remained for a long time.

Upon arrival he learned of a patient held in the basement with a serious degenerative disease that deformed his face. As an act of humanity, Quiroga asked to be assigned as a roommate.

From that moment Vicente Batistessa, who was called the confined man, became a friend and confidant of Quiroga until his life ended.

A long time passed before they revealed the diagnosis to Quiroga: he had terminal cancer in the prostate, with no possibility of intervention or cure.

On the same day of the diagnosis, he asked permission to go see his daughter. She left the hospital and wandered around town and made a purchase. At night she returned to the hospital and took the product out of the bag: a vial of cyanide.

He poured some into a glass under the understanding gaze of Batistessa, who did not speak. He drained the contents of the glass and lay down to wait. Death came again, but this time it came for him. It was February 17, 1937.

Plays

Horacio Quiroga, not only cultivated the art of writing stories, he was also a playwright and poet.

- In 1888 he wrote El Tigre.

- In 1901 he published his first book of poetry: The coral reefs.

- In 1904 and 1907 his stories The Crime of the Other and The Feather Pillow came to light.

- In 1908 he wrote his first novel Historia de un amor turbio.

- In 1917 his famous Tales of madness and death love were published.

- In 1918 he wrote Tales from the jungle.

- In 1920 he published the stories The Dead Man and The Wild. Also in this year he wrote the play Las sacrificados.

- In 1921 his compilation of short stories Anaconda appeared.

- In 1924, 1925 and 1926 he wrote The Desert, The Cutthroat Chicken and Other Tales and The Exiles, respectively.

- 1929 is the year of publication of his novel Pasado amor.

- In 1931 he wrote, in collaboration with Leonardo Glusberg, the children's reading book Natal Floor.

- In 1935, 1937 and 1939 he wrote Beyond, The chair of pain, Mother's love and Nothing better than dreaming.

- He also wrote theory on the art of telling in The Rhetoric of the Story, in his book On Literature, and in his Decalogue of the Perfect Storyteller, followed by some and refuted by others.

Awards received

With his writing Cuento sin razon, he won second place (Talent Award) in 1901 in the contest sponsored and promoted by the Montevideo monthly "La Alborada". This is the only award registered in life.

Other trades

Quiroga, in addition to being a famous writer, carried out multiple activities that had nothing to do with his trade, but these were in perfect harmony with his restless spirit.

With the idea of ​​generating income, he ventured into the distillation of citrus liqueurs. He worked in the extraction of coal, worked in a quarry, ventured into the cultivation of mate grass and made sweets called Yatei.

Not satisfied with this, he made inventions to solve problems on his farm, as well as a device to kill ants.

Nicknames

- During his youth he was called "the man on the bicycle", for his great passion with everything related to cycling.

- Around 1920 they called him "The crazy man on the motorcycle" when they saw him go by with his Harley Davidson (with a side stand) in the town of San Ignacio in Misiones. It should be noted that at the time, riding in a device of these characteristics was an eccentricity.

- His neighbors also called him “El Salvaje”.

References

1. Monegal, E. (1961) The roots of Horacio Quiroga Essays. Recovered at: anaforas.fic.edu.uy
2. Pacheco, C. (1993) From the Story and its Surroundings. Monte Ávila Editores Latinoamericana. Venezuela.
3. Boule, A. (1975) Horacio Quiroga Tells his own story. Notes for a biography. BulletinHispanique. Recovered at: persee.fr
4. Jemio, D. (2012) The jungle according to Horacio Quiroga. Clarín Supplements. Recovered in: clarin.com
5. García, G. (2003) Horacio Quiroga and the Birth of the professional writer. Recovered at: lehman.cuny.edu