Efraín Huerta facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Efraín Huerta
Born	Efrén Huerta Roma (1914-06-18)June 18, 1914 Silao, Guanajuato
Died	February 3, 1982(1982-02-03) (aged 67) Mexico City
Resting place	Xochitepec
Occupation	poet and journalist
Language	Spanish
Nationality	Mexican
Education	National Preparatory School, National Autonomous University of Mexico (2 years)
Years active	1936-1982
Notable awards	Ordre des Palmes académiques, National Poetry Prize (Mexico)
Spouses	Mireya Bravo Munguía, Thelma Nava
Children	Andrea Huerta Bravo (1943), Eugenia Huerta Bravo (1945), David Huerta Bravo (1949-2022),Thelma Huerta Nava (1959) and Raquel Huerta Nava (1963)
Signature

Efraín Huerta (born June 18, 1914 – died February 3, 1982) was a famous Mexican poet and journalist. He was born in Guanajuato state and later moved to Mexico City. There, he first wanted to study art.

Even though he didn't get into art school, he went to the National Preparatory School. Here, he met other future writers like Octavio Paz. Efraín Huerta loved writing poetry from a young age. He first studied law, but after his first book of poems was published, he decided to become a full-time writer.

He wrote poetry from the 1930s to the 1980s. As a journalist, he worked for more than twenty newspapers and magazines. He used his own name and also wrote under different pen names. Efraín Huerta was also very active in politics. He was a communist and supported Joseph Stalin. His political ideas often appeared in his poems.

He was part of a group of Mexican poets called the Taller generation. Later in his career, his writing style became more everyday and focused on Mexico City. He even created a new short poem style called "poemínimo."

Efraín Huerta's Early Life

Efraín Huerta was born Efrén Huerta Roma in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1914. This was during the Mexican Revolution, which was a very important time for Mexico. He was the seventh of eight children. His father, José Mercedes Huerta, was a lawyer and judge.

In 1917, his family moved to Irapuato. Later, his parents separated. Efraín moved with his mother and siblings to León, and then in 1925 to Querétaro. He would sometimes visit his father in Irapuato.

Efraín started primary school late in León. He went to middle school in Querétaro. As a young person, he had many different jobs, like drawing posters for ads. He loved playing soccer and later became a big fan of the Atlante team in Mexico City. He rarely missed their home games.

When he was 16, Huerta moved to Mexico City. He wanted to study at the Academy of San Carlos for art, but he wasn't accepted. He stayed in Mexico City for the rest of his life, living in different areas like Tabacalera and Polanco.

In 1931, Huerta went to the National Preparatory School. He became friends with Rafael Solana and Carmen Toscano. He also met Octavio Paz, who was a year ahead of him. Paz and Huerta were close friends when they were young. They shared interests in society, literature, and politics. However, as they got older, their political views changed, and they grew apart.

Huerta started law school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1933. But he only stayed for two years. Around this time, his friend Rafael Solana suggested he change his name to Efraín because it sounded better. For a short time, he also used the Hebrew version, Ephraím. He kept writing poetry while in law school. In 1935, his book Absoluto amor was published. After this success, he left law school to focus on writing full-time.

Family Life and Nickname

In 1941, Efraín Huerta married his first wife, Mireya Bravo Munguía. They had known each other for ten years. Octavio Paz was the best man at their wedding. Mireya appears in his poems as "Andrea de Plata." They had three children: Andrea (born 1943), Eugenia (born 1945), and David (born 1949). David later became a poet and critic, like his father.

During this time, Huerta spent a lot of time in the historic center of Mexico City. He especially liked the area around the Monument to the Revolution. He often visited places like Sidralí, a popular spot for journalists. On Sundays, he would go to the Ciudad de los Deportes to watch bullfights or soccer games. He was a very involved father, taking his daughters to movies, bookstores, and places for churros and hot chocolate.

In 1958, Huerta married his second wife, Thelma Nava, who was also a poet. They had two more daughters: Thelma (born 1959) and Raquel (born 1963). With this family, he traveled to places like Morelia and Guanajuato. They often looked for Mexican handicrafts. They lived in Polanco, where he enjoyed visiting nearby cafes.

Huerta got his nickname, "El Cocodrilismo" (The Crocodilism), in 1949. He was telling crocodile stories and said that everyone has a "crocodile" inside them. In 1973, he was diagnosed with cancer in his larynx. He had surgery to remove the organ. He survived the cancer, but it made it hard for him to speak. He got some of his voice back with speech therapy.

Efraín Huerta passed away in Mexico City in 1982, at age 67. He died from kidney failure after his cancer returned. He is buried in Xochitepec.

Efraín Huerta's Poetry

Published Works

Efraín Huerta is most famous for his poetry. He started writing poems when he was a student. His first poem, El Bajío, appeared in a local newspaper. His first book, Absoluto amor, was published in 1935. This success made him decide to become a full-time poet, journalist, and political activist.

His first important book was Los hombres del alba (Men of the Dawn), published in 1944. This book is considered a classic of 20th-century Mexican poetry. It was also the first time he wrote poems about Mexico City. Another important work is El Tajín (1953), named after the ancient archaeological site.

In 1956, he published Los poemas de viaje. These poems were inspired by his trips to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. They also talked about social and political issues he observed. He also published Estella en alto in the same year, which included both love poems and political poems.

Some of his later works include Poemas prohibidos y de amor (1973), Transa poética (1980), and Estampida de poemínimos (1981).

Writing Style

Efraín Huerta's poetry was influenced by writers like Juan Ramón Jiménez and Pablo Neruda. He was part of the Taller generation of poets in Mexico, along with Octavio Paz. This group wanted poetry to be about universal ideas and social issues, not just personal feelings. His work also continued the rebellious spirit of Walt Whitman.

His time studying law influenced his early poems, making them logical and precise. But over time, Huerta changed his style. Instead of being romantic, his poetry became more realistic and everyday. It was described as bringing "loose-jointed exuberance into Mexican poetry."

Several themes appear often in Huerta's work:

• Dawn (alba): This idea suggests faint light bringing clarity and new beginnings.
• Politics and Society: His poems often reflected his strong political beliefs and the major wars and conflicts of his time. For example, Poemas de guerra y esperanza (1943) and Los hombres del alba (1944) were about the Spanish Civil War and World War II. He generally supported socialism and the Soviet system.
• Mexico City: In his later works, Mexico City became a main character in his poems. He tried to show the city as a living, collective being.

In his last years, from 1969 until his death, Huerta created a new type of poem called a poemínimo. These were short, playful verses where he explored topics with humor and irony. They first appeared in magazines and later in books like 50 poemínimos (1978).

Journalism and Other Activities

Huerta started his journalism career in 1936. Over the years, he worked with more than twenty newspapers and magazines, mostly in Mexico City. He began by writing about theater and film, and he continued to do this throughout his career. He also wrote investigative reports.

He often used different pen names, like Filmito Rueda and Fósforo. At least a dozen pen names are known to be his.

In 1936, Huerta helped start a poetry magazine called Taller Poético. Later, Octavio Paz took over and expanded it to include stories and essays. This magazine was very important for Huerta and other writers. In 1947, Huerta became the first director of the weekly magazine El Figaro. He also wrote about Mexican popular cinema, and these writings were later published in two books.

In 1951, he became the director of Intercambio, a cultural magazine.

Huerta's "crocodile stories," which he first told out loud, led to a work called the Manifesto of the Crocodile. This was an optimistic idea that went against some popular philosophies of the time. From 1957 to 1961, he edited a literary magazine called Cuadernos del Cocodrilo (Notebooks of the Crocodile). He even did the illustrations for it. These notebooks became popular with children when they were published much later.

In 1970, he was the president of the Cinema Journalists of Mexico.

Political Involvement

Efraín Huerta's political activities started early. He joined the Great Socialist Party of Central Querétaro in 1929. In 1936, he joined the Federation of Revolutionary Students and then officially became a member of the Mexican Communist Party.

In 1934, Huerta and Octavio Paz worked together to help José Revueltas when he was in jail. They also spoke out together about the Spanish Civil War. Huerta was very active in the Communist Party for a while. However, the party faced problems in the 1940s, and Huerta was later removed from it, along with other artists.

Despite this, Huerta remained a communist and a loyal supporter of Joseph Stalin for the rest of his life. His political views influenced his writing and his travels. In 1951, he traveled to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. After the Cuban Revolution, he visited Cuba twice to support the new government.

His political beliefs sometimes caused problems. For example, he was not allowed to get a US visa in 1966. In 1978, his work was censored in Brazil. His support for the Sandinistas in Nicaragua even led to him being banned from that country.

Huerta was mostly quiet about the student uprising in Tlatelolco in 1968. This was a very painful event for him, especially because some of his children were involved.

Awards and Legacy

In the late 1940s, the French government gave Huerta the Ordre des Palmes académiques for his writing and journalism. In 1956, he received the Stalin Peace Prize. The famous artist Diego Rivera even included a picture of Huerta in his mural Pesadilla de guerra y sueño de paz (1952), which has since been lost.

In the 1970s, Huerta received several awards in Mexico. These included the Xavier Villarrutia Prize (1975), the National Poetry Prize (1976), and the National Journalism Prize (1978).

After he passed away, his personal library and writings were given to the government. They are now available for the public and researchers to study. In 1988, a complete collection of his poetry, Poesía completo, was published.

Interest in Huerta's work grew again in the 2010s. He is now one of the most-read poets by younger generations in Mexico. His works have been republished in new collections.

In 2014, Mexico celebrated the 100th anniversary of his birth with special events. Tributes were held at the Mexican Senate, the Festival Internacional Cervantino, and the Feria Internacional del Libro in Guadalajara.

Works

• 1935 - Absoluto amor
• 1936 - Línea del alba
• 1944 - Los hombres del alba
• 1943 - Poemas de guerra y esperanza
• 1950 - La rosa primitiva
• 1951 - Poesía
• 1953 - Poemas de viaje
• 1956 - Estrella en alto y nuevos poemas
• 1957 - Para gozar tu paz
• 1959 - ¡Mi país, oh mi país!
• 1959 - Elegía de la policía montada
• 1961 - Farsa trágica del presidente que quería una isla
• 1962 - La raíz amarga
• 1963 - El Tajín
• 1973 - Poemas prohibidos y de amor
• 1974 - Los eróticos y otros poemas
• 1980 - Estampida de poemínimos
• 1980 - Tranza poética
• 1985 - Estampida de Poemínimos

Images for kids

• 

  Efraín Huerta's signature

See also

In Spanish: Efraín Huerta para niños