José Asunción Silva
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| José Asunción Silva | |
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| Born | November 27, 1865 Bogotá, Colombia |
| Died | May 23, 1896 (aged 30) Bogotá, Colombia |
| Occupation | Poet, Author, Political figure |
José Asunción Silva (November 27, 1865 in Bogotá – May 23, 1896 in Bogotá) was a Colombian poet. He is considered one of the founders of Spanish-American Modernism.
[edit] Life
Born into a wealthy and cultured Bogotá family, Silva led a carefree life, traveling to England, Switzerland, and France in his early adulthood. However, with the death of his father and the increasing financial struggles his family experienced thereafter, Silva was forced to return to Colombia. Incapable of paying his family's enormous debts, Silva accepted a diplomatic position in Caracas. While there, he was encouraged by fellow writers to pursue his poetry.
In 1895, Silva's only major work of prose was lost in a shipwreck. He was, however, convinced to rewrite the novel from memory. In 1896, his beloved sister Elvira died. Under the weight of these two events, Silva collapsed and committed suicide on May 23, 1896.
He wrote his first work, "Primera Comunión," in 1875.
Traveling to Europe, he met Stéphane Mallarmé and Gustave Moreau in Paris.
[edit] Death
In the morning of May 24, 1896, Silva was found dead by the house maid in his bed; he shot himself in the heart the last night. A variety of reasons for his suicide may include the death of his sister Elvira, the losing of almost all his work when the ship where he was sank near a key in the Caribbean sea, or his economical debts. Prior to his death he asked his confidential doctor to mark him the exact place in where his heart was.
He was buried in the Central Cemetery, in Bogota. Maybe his more important legacy is the house where he lived, which in the present is conserved as a museum.
[edit] Works
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: José Asunción Silva |
- El libro de versos (published posthumous in 1923)
- De sobremesa (published in 1925; trans. In After-Dinner Conversation)
