JOSÉ EUGENIO DÍAZ CASTRO: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

José Eugenio Díaz Castro (1803-1865) was a Colombian writer and novelist considered the precursor of the costumbrista movement in his country. In his works he reflected his vision and sociological analysis on the pro-independence episodes he lived through, even when he did not participate in the historical conflicts.

The literary work of Díaz Castro was characterized by the use of a simple and easily understood language. His writings were framed within the social, political and historical reality of Colombia during the 19th century. Life in the country and its customs was an outstanding feature in his texts.

José Eugenio Díaz Castro. Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

The texts of this Colombian intellectual were modest in number. Some of his most outstanding titles were: A round by Don Ventura Ahumada, Manuela, Bruna la carbonera and Los aguinaldos in Chapinero. Eugenio Díaz managed to open the doors to nationalist and traditional literature with Manuela.

Biography

Birth and family

José Eugenio was born on September 5, 1803 in the town of Soacha, Cundinamarca, in the time of the old Viceroyalty of New Granada. The writer came from a family dedicated to farm work. His parents were José Antonio Díaz and Andrea de Castro.

Education

Díaz Castro learned his first letters from the hand of Casimiro Espinel and later began to study primary school at the Colegio de San Bartolomé in his hometown. Some time later he had to drop out of school due to health problems. The writer completed his studies in a self-taught way and took refuge in reading.

Work in the field

José Eugenio Díaz Castro dedicated himself to working in the fields during his younger years. He served as administrator of estates and sometimes bought land for the commercialization of agriculture and livestock. During that stage of his life, he toured various Colombian regions and soaked up their traditions and culture.

First literary steps

Díaz Castro's passion for letters began to materialize in the mid-19th century. The writer ventured into journalism around 1850, he wrote several articles of a traditional style in important newspapers of the time, such as: El Bogotano, La América, El Bien Social and Biblioteca de Señoritas.

Later, José Eugenio founded the newspaper El Mosaico together with his friends José Manuel Marroquín and José María Vergara y Vergara. Later, the literary gathering that bore the same name as the aforementioned printed medium was born.

First publications

Díaz Castro conceived his first novels in 1848, at which time he managed a tobacco company in the Ambalema region. Ten years later he brought to light his narrative works A Round of Don Ventura Ahumada and his famous Manuela. In both he portrayed the customs of the post-colonial era.

Last years and death

José Eugenio spent the last years of his life dedicated to the development of his literary work and the practice of journalism. Among the last novels he wrote were Bruna la carbonera, María Ticince or The adventures of a geologist and Pioquinta, which he could not finish.

Main square of Sohacha, the town where Díaz Castro was born. Source: Oscarín Orbitus, via Wikimedia Commons

The life of this remarkable Colombian intellectual began to deteriorate with various health conditions and he had to stay in bed. After five years of being bedridden, José Eugenio Díaz Castro died on April 11, 1865 in Bogotá at the age of sixty-one.

Style

José Eugenio Díaz Castro's literary style was framed within the manners movement. The writer narrated his stories through clear, simple and precise language. At times he was criticized by intellectuals of the time who considered a certain grammatical and linguistic neglect in his texts.

The literature of this author was of historical and testimonial content. Díaz Castro portrayed in his narratives the political and social events of his native Colombia at the time of the emancipation of Spanish rule. The writer captured reality from a critical point of view and focused on the cultural.

Plays

- My pen. Autobiographical articles.

- Museum of pictures of customs (1866, posthumous edition). Four volumes.

- El rejo de linking (1873, posthumous edition).

- Los aguinaldos en Chapinero (1873, posthumous edition).

- Novels and pictures of customs (1985, posthumous edition). Volumes I and II.

Brief description of some of his works

A round of Don Ventura Ahumada

It was the novel with which Díaz Castro opened the doors to the world of literature and developed it within the manners movement. The writer narrated the story of when Ventura Ahumada (Bogotá's security chief) was assigned to search for a monk who fled a convent. The story took place in 1828.

Ahumada did his job to the full, he managed to find the elusive priest's whereabouts after conducting several investigations in the lower strata of society. In the end, the policeman gave the monk the opportunity to claim his fault.

Manuela

It was one of the most important and recognized novels of the writer José Eugenio Díaz Castro. Through simple and colloquial language, he narrated the customs of the peasant regions of Colombia. The author portrayed the historical and political episodes that occurred in the 19th century and that made it a national work.

Art of the radio version of the novel Manuela, by Díaz Castro. Source: media.cerventevirtual.com.

The writer incorporated into the work a story of love and heartbreak, whose protagonist gave the name to the novel. Manuela was the victim of mistreatment by a man named Tadeo, and later she found comfort in the arms of a peasant who responded to the name of Damaso. The main character did not have a happy ending.

Highlights

This work by Díaz Castro stood out for two fundamental aspects. The first was related to the way in which the author exposed the social drama of the time, especially the offensive treatment that the rich gave to the poor. The second feature was the descriptive reality with which the writer presented the events.

Publication

The publication of this novel took place progressively in 1858 in the pages of the newspaper El Mosaico, founded by Díaz Castro. It was then published in its entirety in 1866, and in 1889 a publishing house in Paris published it in two volumes. From its first edition, the work became a benchmark for traditional literature in Colombia.

Fragment of Manuela

“In the middle of the street he heard the first double of the bell, and he shuddered when he heard it because it reached his heart and made him moan. When she reached the church, she saw the corpse on a table in mourning, and she heard the priest singing: 'Subvenite, Sancte, Spiritus', with a funereal and slow voice.

"Don Demosthenes had attended several funerals of tone in Bogotá, as he was one of the most distinguished in society… He was in the presence of a dead man well enclosed in a luxurious box, of a dead man who had been his partner or friend! perhaps!…

"… Manuela, who was kneeling near the corpse, had her face hidden in her shawl and she was crying, and Don Demosthenes heard her sobs through the shawl, like a small fountain is heard in the mountains through the bower…".

Aguinaldos in Chapinero

It was a narrative work by José Eugenio Díaz Castro that was published almost a decade after his death. The novel was developed within the customary trend and written in a clear and precise language, in accordance with the Spanish that was spoken in the 19th century.

Díaz Castro based the content of the work on the traditional Christmas holidays that were held in the town of Chapinero. The author made an exact description of reality, in terms of dances, food, songs and the way in which the boys fell in love with the girls. The text was structured in nineteen chapters.

The link fence

This novel by Díaz Castro was released for the first time in a posthumous edition in 1873. The play was set in the old New Granada in 1854, during the civil war. The author continued with the traditional thread and narrated the way of life of the families.

José Eugenio Díaz Castro was in charge of giving his point of view in relation to political events. He made reference to liberalism and its fracture, to the behavior of those who held power and the misery in which the peasants lived. It was a novel of great historical value.

Chapters

This literary work consisted of eighteen chapters. Here is the title of each of them:

- “Mr. Eugenio Díaz”.

- "The two farms".

- "The two families".

- "On Sunday".

- "The threshing".

- "Vulture hunting".

- "The studies".

- "The turns the world takes."

- "The rodeos".

- “The Colorado bull”.

"The harvest."

- "The telescope."

- "The revolution. The provisional government ”.

- "The situation".

- "Fernando and Colonel Ardila".

- "The combat of La Calera".

- "The guando".

- "Explanations".

Fragment of “The Revolution. The provisional government "

“Doña Mercedes was addressing people when ñor Juan Antonio came in very hurriedly, saying to the ladies:

-I have come to bring your mercedes such a big piece of news (and he made the sample like a pin, or a very large squash).

"Throw her out, ñor Juan Antonio," replied the gracious Margarita.

-Well, they are at war in Bogotá.

-Really? exclaimed Mrs. Mercedes.

"Indeed, my lady." My compadre Andrés was in my room and he told me that a posta who was going to Ubaté had arrived at his ranch and that he had told him that they had fired many cannon shots at dawn and that the Liberals had won and that they had arrested many conservative cachacos and Golgotas… ”.

References

1. José Eugenio Díaz Castro. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2019). Eugenio Diaz. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. José Eugenio Díaz Castro. (S. f.). Cuba: EcuRed. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
4. (S. f.). Díaz Castro, José Eugenio (1803-1865). (N / a): MCN Biographies. Recovered from: mcnbiografias.com.
5. Manuela (novel). (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.