JOAQUÍN GALLEGOS LARA: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Joaquín Gallegos Lara (1909 - 1947) was a prominent Ecuadorian writer and journalist with socialist tendencies, active during the 1930s. He is recognized for his poems, novels, short stories, and political essays.

Gallegos Lara, along with other writers of the time, marked with his works the social realism within Ecuadorian literature. Additionally, his multifaceted and charismatic personality made him shine as a writer and brought success to most of his novels, short stories, and social critiques.

Image source: jjgliterario.blogspot.com

One of his main motivations for writing was to reproduce in letters the voice of the people and the lowest social class of society: his inclination for communism generated a bond for the social. Later, he wrote some novels that reflect the deepest feelings of the Ecuadorian people.

This writer is best known for one of his early works, titled Los que se van; written together with his two great writer friends Demetrio Aguilera Malta and Enrique Gil Gilbert.

Also, he is recognized for the historical and social novel entitled Las cruces sobre el agua, a story that keeps alive several events in the history of Ecuador.

Biography

Family background

Joaquín Gallegos Lara was born on April 9, 1909 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, under the name of Joaquín José Enrique de las Mercedes Gallegos Lara (according to the information available from his birth certificate).

He was the only child of Emma Lara Calderón and Joaquín Gallegos del Campo. His father was a renowned liberal politician and writer, who participated in the Bulubulu campaign and turned out to be one of the most admirable revolutionary heroes. He worked and stayed in favor of President Eloy Alfaro; in fact, he died working in Ecuadorian politics.

In addition, he was a journalist of a satirical nature and wrote some poems dedicated, mostly, to his wife Emma. After his death, two of his poems were published: My first-born and The first tooth, in honor of his son.

Joaquín Gallegos Lara's family background comes from a renowned family of Spanish origin. His paternal grandfather was the doctor of the relatives of King Carlos IV of Spain. His grandmother, Antonia de Luna y Alza, was known to belong to one of the high social groups existing at the time.

Regarding the maternal antecedents, Gallegos Lara was the family of one of the heroes who commanded the patriot army against the Spanish side.

Early life and interest in poetry

Joaquín Gallegos Lara was born with a serious spinal injury that atrophied his legs. The injury prevented him from walking, having as the only form of mobilization; he was not considered a normal child as a consequence of this condition.

His disability prevented him from going to school and playing with children his age. For this reason, he studied at home: his taste for reading and languages ​​made him an effective self-taught throughout his life. He became fluent in Russian, French, German, and Italian almost perfectly.

At the age of 15 he began to be interested in poetry and, a year later, he began to make his first publications with a tendency for sentimental themes. Her first publications (Letters and numbers, Selected pages and The Illustration) appeared in the renowned literary magazine Variedades.

Youth and publications

In 1927, his wide culture and his peculiar personality caught the attention of the young people of the time; many of them met with him to debate and converse on different social issues.

Through the long gatherings, he was able to meet Demetrio Aguilera Malta and Enrique Gil Gilbert. From that great friendship arose the play Los que se van, written in 1930.

At age 21, he became the head of a realistic literary generation with a certain degree of social denunciation, which caused a stir in the conservative society of the time. All three writers were training to be the forerunners of social realism in Ecuador.

Later, Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco and José de la Cuadra joined the group. The group of writers, now made up of five members, created the Guayaquil Group (one of the most recognized groups in literature and letters in Ecuador).

Inclusion to communism

As of 1931, Joaquín Gallegos Lara joined the Communist Youth group. This group was a youth revolutionary movement oriented towards scientific communism and Marxist-Leninist ideologies. The group was founded in 1929.

Since its creation, the movement was in charge of being present in popular struggles, exerting influence among young students and workers in Ecuador.

The group was characterized by following a program similar to that of the Communist Party of Ecuador. A few years later, the Ecuadorian writer served as secretary general of the party, fulfilling the position within the regional committee of the coast.

Within the communist movement he was present in great battles alongside the Ecuadorian people, spreading the slogans of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He won over the people with his charisma and discipline; he was seen as a hero in social struggles.

In 1934, in the company of other professionals of the movement, he founded the newspaper “El Clamor”. The publication had a socialist orientation, full of criticism and essays. A year later, he faced a political debate about intellectuals in class society.

Marriage

Joaquín Gallegos Lara met Nela Martínez Espinosa when he was most involved in politics. Following years, they began a formal relationship. When he turned 26, he married the young woman, who was 21 at the time.

Both shared similar ideologies and dreams: together they participated in barricades, strikes and social struggles of workers and indigenous people. In fact, they were married on the same day of a workers' strike in the city of Ambato. Later, they moved to Guayaquil and then to Quito.

Despite having started a relationship that seemed to be long-lasting, they divorced within a few months. However, the writer maintained a deep friendship with his ex-partner until the day of his death.

Gallegos Lara began a novel titled Los Guandos that she failed to finish, leaving Nela Martínez to complete it. It was finally published in 1982.

Participation in Ecuadorian politics

During the dictatorship of President Federico Páez, in 1936, Gallegos Lara was in Quito, directing and making several publications for a literary magazine called Base. The Ecuadorian writer wrote an article entitled Centenario de Gorki: a tribute to the Russian revolutionary writer Máximo Gorki, in honor of his novel Madre.

However, the magazine was incinerated on the orders of the dictator Páez and its authors were harassed. Despite this, Gallegos Lara managed to save a copy of Gorki's Centennial article and gave it to the Ecuadorian writer Cristóbal Garcés Larrea. Garcés finally published it after Gallegos Lara's death.

In 1943, he was part of the Ecuadorian Democratic Action: a political organization in opposition to the regime of Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río. In addition, he participated in the mass mobilization of an anti-fascist movement by the Communist Party.

The anti-fascist movement arose as a consequence of the Second World War and the victories of the Soviet Union army in honor of the figure of Joseph Stalin. After the triumph of the Revolution on May 28, 1944, the municipality of Guayaquil awarded him a gold medal for his charisma and recognized him for being a patriotic journalist.

Last years

In his last years, Gallegos Lara dedicated himself to the practice of journalism, mainly in the fields of economics, politics, literature and international issues. Among the topics he addressed are: capitalism in Ecuador, indigenous approaches, North American and national elections, workers and the country's culture.

He also worked as a writer for Clorario Paz's “Cocorrico” magazine, in addition to writing Guayaquil newspapers for La Prensa and El Telégrafo.

In the newspaper of the Communist Party (Red Flag), he dedicated himself to writing in the section on international issues related to the rise of communism. Much of his journalistic work revolved around the development of political propaganda.

In early 1947, Gallegos Lara fell ill as a result of a fistula (an abnormal connection between two parts of the body). While many doctors tried to cure him with different treatments, he never managed to get better.

"Tomb of Joaquín Gallegos Lara". Edgar José Rosero Villacís, via Wikimedia Commons

A relative tried to take him to the United States to seek more advanced treatment, but his visa was denied, so he had to move to Lima. He was deported from the Peruvian capital due to his communist tendencies. He died a few days after returning to Guayaquil, on November 16, 1947.

Plays

Those who leave

However, the stories in the text show a change in the narrative compared to his other works. The tone is charged with depth and desolation, as is the case with El guaraguao or Ultima erranza.

In this last book, the writer did not forget his social sense and the natural realism of his writing, characteristics that surround the text of these pages.

References

1. Joaquín Gallegos Lara, Wikipedia in English, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
2. Gallegos Lara, Joaquín: Historical Characters, Portal Enciclopedia del Ecuador, (nd). Taken from encyclopediadelecuador.com
3. The Last Wander, Website Goodreads, (nd). Taken from goodreads.com
4. The crosses on the water, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
5. Joaquín Gallegos Lara, Portal Efemérides, (nd). Taken from efemerides.ec