José María Méndez Calderón was a Salvadoran lawyer and writer who was born in the city of Santa Ana on September 23, 1916 and died in San Salvador on April 14, 2006.
His father was Antonio Rafael Méndez, a renowned Salvadoran jurist, and his mother, María Luisa Calderón de Méndez.
Those who knew José María Méndez or “Chema” as he was affectionately nicknamed, say that he inherited his critical sense and passion for reading from his father; and his mother's humorous streak.
Biography
José María Méndez was born into a wealthy family and studied in the best educational centers in his city, graduating from the “Marcelino García Flamenco” school in 1933.
At that time the entertainment options for young people were quite limited, which led to reading becoming their favorite hobby. During her career as a student, she distinguished herself by her dedication and excellent grades.
This earned him that in 1936 he was awarded as the best student of the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Social Sciences of the University of Salvador. His penchant for literature paid off early.
In 1940 he obtained first place in a contest promoted by the Faculty of Law of the National University, with his scientific monograph called "The Corps of Crime".
Later, with his doctoral thesis entitled "The Confession in Criminal Matters" he obtained a gold medal to finally graduate in November 1941 as a lawyer.
He served as a prosecutor for the General Association of University Students at the same National University and cooperated in the founding of the Isidro Menéndez Society for Legal Studies.
From 1968 to 1970 he was appointed rector of the National University. Between 1994 and 1997 he served as a magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Foray into literature
Although Chema Méndez had already had successes in his literary compositions, his true foray into the literary field occurred in 1953.
On this date he assumed the direction of the newspaper "patria Nueva" together with José Antonio Rodríguez and Julio Fausto Fernández.
Political criticism was the theme of his first newspaper articles, which were received with great acceptance by the public.
At the same time he created "Fliteando", a humorous column that became famous for its fine ironic style.
In 1957, the series of articles in the column were compiled into the author's first book, which was published by the Ministry of Culture of El Salvador.
Contributions
José María Méndez's work is distinguished by its humor and wit.
Some of its most representative texts are:
- Shooter (1957).
- Tales of the Alphabet and Personal Dictionary (1992).
- Three women squared, a work that won him second place in the national culture contest (1963).
- Irredeemable time, first place in the Floral Games of Quetzaltenango (1970).
- Mirror of Time, first place in the Floral Games of Quetzaltenango (1974).
- Three councils, first place in the Floral Games of Quetzaltenango (1994).
These 3 awards earned him the designation as "Master of Central American Narrative" of the contest.
Awards and recognitions received
In addition to the aforementioned awards for his works, he received the following recognitions:
- National Prize for Culture - 1979
- Distinguished writer from El Salvador - 1999
References
- Dr. José María Méndez (nd). Retrieved on December 230, 2017 from: ues.edu.sv.
- José María Méndez Calderón. (2014). In: binaes.gob.sv.
- José María Méndez. (sf). Retrieved on December 20, 2017 from: ecured.cu.
- José María Méndez Calderón. (October 1, 2017). In: es.wikipedia.org.
- Ventura, E. (nd). José María Méndez Calderón “Master of Central American Narrative”. Retrieved on December 20, 2017 from: uca.edu.sv.