JORGE DEBRAVO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE AND WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Jorge Debravo (1938-1967) was a Costa Rican poet characterized by writing messages in which misery, injustice and hunger are denounced in a frank, clear and simple way. He is also known for being the co-founder of the Círculo de Poetas Turrialbeños.

He is one of the most widely read writers due to the great humanism in his lyrics. He was awarded in 1966 for his collection of poems Everyday Songs at the Central American Floral Games of Costa Rica.

Jorge Debravo's poetic style is characterized by being direct and simple. Source:

Biography

Early years

Jorge Delio Bravo Brenes was born in the town of Guayabo de Turrialba on January 31, 1938, the son of Joaquín Bravo Ramírez and Cristina Brenes, both peasants. He was the only boy of five children.

Raised in humble conditions, his childhood was not easy, since poverty ranged from lack of footwear to being forced to work the land from the early hours of the day. Meanwhile, his mother, since he was a child, instructed him in writing and reading.

Thanks to his efforts at work with his father, he managed to buy his first book: a dictionary. Many claim that their learning consisted of writing the letters and their name on banana leaves. Jorge always showed great interest in learning and insisted on taking formal studies.

At the age of 14, he entered the Mixed School of Santa Cruz de Turrialba, in Cartago, for the first time, which was four hours away from his home. He reached fifth grade and in just one month they moved him to sixth. Then he got a scholarship to attend secondary school.

Work trajectory

Due to financial problems, he dropped out of high school when he was 17 years old. However, in 1965 he was able to finish high school. Later he began studying journalism by correspondence and did other studies in a self-taught way.

When he left his studies, he began to work in the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. During that time, he dedicated himself to publishing in El Turrialbeño in the company of several young people, among which figures such as Laureano Albán and Marco Aguilar stand out.

A year later, his good performance gave him the opportunity to move to Heredia as an inspector for the Caja Costarricense. This new position allowed him to learn about social problems of the workers who worked there, including poverty, one of the axes that would later make up the essential elements of his writing.

Among his most important feats in that company, we can mention his contribution to ensuring that more than 200 workers were insured who unanimously claimed the insurance payment.

Marriage and children

In 1959 he met Margarita Salazar, with whom he married a week after their first meeting and in 1960 his daughter, Lucrecia, was born. A year later, in 1961 his second son, Raimundo, was born.

A new promotion in his job required that he move with his family to San Isidro de El General, and then move to the Central Valley (located between Heredia and San José). While in San José he founded the important Círculo de Poetas Turrialbeños.

Death

He died on August 4, 1967 at the young age of 29, in a motorcycle accident. It is presumed that he had just bought the motorcycle in order to move about for work, when a drunk driver ran over him in his vehicle.

Awards and honours

He was awarded in 1966 for his collection of poems Everyday Songs at the Central American Floral Games of Costa Rica. After his death, he received the first prize of the September 15 contest, in Guatemala, for his work Los awake.

Years later, April 25, 1996 was declared National Poetry Day, in honor of the birthday of Jorge Debravo, considered one of the most representative poets of his country, thus being celebrated every January 31.

There is currently an educational institute in Turrialba with his name: Jorge Debravo Educational Center, which has levels of Maternal, Preschool, Primary and Secondary. This is just one of the many study centers that bear his name.

Style

His first readings had a notable influence on his work: Neruda, Darío, La Biblia, Whitman, Vallejo, Miguel Hernández. His classmates nicknamed him "El Loco" because they always found him reading, immersed in the depths of books.

His style is clear and simple but broad and rich in human sensitivity. Debravo's lines reflect the cultural lack of his life, a lack of which he stoically overcame.

The poetry that he left as a legacy is usually described with a direct and simple language, within the field of the metaphor as a personal obsession with justice and love for others.

Circle of poets

In 1960 Jorge Debravo, together with Laureano Albán and Marcos Aguilar, founded the Círculo de Poetas Turrialbeños, to later join the Círculo de Poetas Costarricenses in order to refresh and expand the literature of the Central American country.

Plays

The position of inspector of the company in which he worked and his humble origin allowed him to get closer to the workers and learn about the shortcomings, difficulties, sadness and weapons in the world. This, its main theme, is reflected throughout its bibliography.

books

Debravo managed to publish seven books, the last being one of the best known for its simplicity and depth of feeling.

Posthumous (poems)

José Capmany: Musicalization of the poem “Hombre”

The rock singer of Costa Rican origin José Capmany (1961-2001), who curiously also died in a car accident, set the poem Hombre by Jorge Debravo as a tribute to the writer.

In the lyrics of the song you can see the complete material, without any alteration of the topic:

References

1. Debravo, Jorge. "The older brother", Communication Magazine Volume 16, 2007.
2. Rodríguez, Francisco. "The poetry of Jorge Debravo and humanistic thought", 2007.
3. Jorge Debravo Anthological Collection of Social Poetry, Omegalfa Virtual Library, 2013.
4. Aguilar, M. Zúñiga, F. Devandas, M. García, H. Rodríguez, R. "Program", Tribute to Jorge Debravo carried out on Radio Cultural de Turrialba, Azofeifa, I, 2007.
5. Camacho, Marianela. "A journey through the poetic work of Jorge Debravo", 2010.