Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera facts for kids
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (born December 22, 1859 – died February 3, 1895) was a famous Mexican writer. He was also involved in politics. He is known for helping to start the modernismo movement in Mexican literature.
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Biography of Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera was born in Mexico City on December 22, 1859. His parents were Manuel Gutiérrez Gómez and Dolores Nájera y Huerta. He was the oldest of four children. His mother taught him most of his early lessons at home. He also had private teachers for French and Latin. These lessons helped him love French writers, who later shaped his own writing style.
Early Career and Family Life
When he was young, Manuel worked as a journalist. He wrote poems and short stories for a newspaper in Mexico City called La Iberia.
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera also served as a deputy for Texcoco. This was a political job that allowed him to marry Cecilia Maillefert. They were married until Manuel's death and had two daughters.
Manuel's Passing
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera passed away in Mexico City when he was 36 years old. This was during the most successful time of his writing career. He had a health condition called hemophilia. This condition makes it hard for blood to clot. Sadly, he passed away after a small medical procedure.
Literary Career and Influence
As a writer, Gutiérrez Nájera connected older writing styles with newer ones. He helped bring together romanticism with modernismo and Symbolism in North America. Modernismo was a new way of writing that focused on beauty and art. Symbolism used symbols to express ideas.
Using Different Names
Manuel used many different pen names during his writing career. A pen name is a fake name a writer uses. His most famous pen name was El Duque Job. He became well-known for his poem La Duquesa Job. In this poem, Duke Job sings about how beautiful and charming his Duchess is.
Some of his other pen names included Raphael, Frú-Frú, Puck, and Mr. Can-Can. He likely used so many names so that people in Mexico City would not get tired of reading too many pieces by the same author. Sometimes, he just signed his works with job titles. For example, he might sign as "the farmer" or "the priest." This made his opinions seem more believable.
First Works and Influences
Gutiérrez Nájera's first writings appeared in La Iberia in 1873. He was only 13 years old at the time. His poems were greatly influenced by French writers like Paul Verlaine, Alfred de Musset, and Théophile Gautier. He was also inspired by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. His essay, Art and Materialism, was published in La Iberia in 1876. Many people see this essay as the first important writing of the modernismo movement.
Founding Revista Azul
In 1894, he started the Mexican magazine Revista Azul with his friend and writer Carlos Díaz Dufoo. Manuel not only started the modernismo movement himself, but Revista Azul also helped new young modernismo writers. One of these writers was José A. Castillón. Manuel also worked as an editor for another Mexico City newspaper, El Partido Liberal.
Just before he passed away, he was named president of La Asociación de Prensa de México. This was Mexico's Associated Press.
Because his career was short and he used many pen names, most of his works were not put into collections until after his death. Many of his writings were published after he was gone.
Works by Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera
Here are some collections of Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera's short stories and articles:
- Cuentos frágiles (meaning "Gossamer Stories")
- Cuentos de color de humo (meaning "Smoke-colored Stories")
- Crónicas color de rosa (meaning "Rose-Colored Chronicles")
- Crónicas color de lluvia (meaning "Rain-Colored Chronicles")
- Crónicas color de oro (meaning "Gold-Colored Chronicles")
- Crónicas de mil colores (meaning "Chronicles of a Thousand Colors")
Some of his most popular poems include:
- La Duquesa Job
- Non omnis moriar
- Para entonces
- De blanco
- Mis enlutadas
See also
In Spanish: Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera para niños
