20th Century Writers - Ecuadorian Literature

Leovigildo Loayza Loayza

José Leovigildo Loayza Loayza (Piñas Canton, El Oro Province, October, 1905 – Guayaquil, August, 1971) was an Ecuadorian poet. He worked at the Guayaquil branch of the Central Bank of Ecuador, and at the César Borja Lavayen night school. In 1972, a high school named after him was founded in the town where he was born – El Colegio Nacional Técnico Leovigildo Loayza Loayza. He authored the lyrics of the pasillo songs “Obsesión” and “Madrigal de seda,” and also wrote poems and hymns.

Pío Jaramillo Alvarado

Pío Jaramillo Alvarado (Loja, May 17, 1884 – July 24, 1968) was an Ecuadorian writer, liberal lawyer, politician, law professor and sociologist. His best-known book El indio ecuatoriano (1922; The Ecuadorian Indian), established him as one of Ecuador’s leading intellectuals and a key participant of the indigenista movement. Born to a white mestizo family, he critiqued indigenous realities from a non-indigenous perspective, which is typical of early twentieth century indigenistas. In 1940 he led the Ecuadorian delegation to the Pátzcuaro Congress in Mexico that founded the Interamerican Indigenist Institute (III). Three years later he helped found the Ecuadorian Indigenist Institute (IIE), for which he subsequently served as director. He contributed essays to newspapers throughout the country, most significantly under the pseudonym Petronio in the liberal newspaper El Día.

Gonzalo Rubio Orbe

Gonzalo Rubio Orbe (Otavalo, Imbabura, June 29, 1909 – October 24, 1994) was an Ecuadorian anthropologist, historian, biographer and educator. He was a protégé of Pío Jaramillo Alvarado, a key leader of the indigenista movement. Rubio’s works represent some of the earliest anthropological assessments of indigenous societies in Ecuador. His principal book is Los Indios Ecuatorianos (1987; The Ecuadorian Indians). From 1971 to 1977, he directed the Inter-American Indian Institute (III), based in Mexico. He also wrote biographies on notable Ecuadorians, such as Luis Felipe Borja and Eugenio Espejo. An indefatigable educator, he continued to lecture to university students until his dying day.

Miguel Ángel Granado Guarnizo

Miguel Ángel Granado Guarnizo, aka M.A. Granado Guarnizo (Guayaquil, 1895-1955) was an Ecuadorian modernist poet, playwright and literary critic. The majority of his poems were published between 1912-1916 in literary magazines such as “Letras” and “El Telegrafo Literario”, which, along with M.E. Castillo y Castillo and J. A. Falconí Villagómez, he founded, directed and edited. His best known play is “El Hermano Cándido” (1919). As a literary critic, in 1920 he published an important critical essay on his friend Medardo Ángel Silva’s poetry book, “El árbol del bien y del mal.” A few critics have grouped him in the so-called “Decapitated Generation,” a group of Ecuadorian poets with premature, tragic endings. He stopped publishing his works in 1926, the year in which he was diagnosed with a mental illness, due to which he spent the rest of his life admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He was the brother of the poet Carlos F. Granado Guarnizo.

José Antonio Falconí Villagómez

José Antonio Falconí Villagómez, aka Jose A. Falconí Villagómez or J.A. Falconí Villagómez, (Guayaquil, May 26, 1894 – Guayaquil, 1967) was an Ecuadorian poet, literary critic, translator, and medical doctor. In 1910 he began publishing his poems in the magazine El Guante, and by 1913 in El Telégrafo. In 1916 he founded the magazine Renacimiento, in which he published his poem, “Ruth adora a los cisnes.” He was greatly influenced by the French Symbolists of his time and was a champion of the avant-garde in poetry. In 1921 he published, “Arte Poética nº 2,” a dadaist poem which introduced the European avant-garde into Ecuadorian letters. In 1953 he was designated a Member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture. In 1964 he was decorated with the National Order of Merit, and in 1965 the city of Guayaquil conferred on him the Gold Medal of Literary Merit.

José Joaquín Pino de Ycaza

José Joaquín Pino de Ycaza (Guayaquil, January 30, 1902 – Guayaquil, February 25, 1959) was an Ecuadorian poet, educator, historian and politician. Since as early as 14 years old he began publishing his poems in national literary magazines such as Patria and Helios, and later also in Juventud (Quito) and Proteos (Guayaquil). He directed the magazine Hermes, which published the most prominent early 20th century poets of Ecuador, such as Wenceslao Pareja, Miguel E. Neira, José Antonio Falconí, and his friend Medardo Angel Silva. In 1984 the Guayas branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture published a collection of his poems in a small book entitled “Sándalo.”

Camilo Destruge

Camilo Destruge Illingworth (Guayaquil, October 20, 1863 – February 26, 1929) was an Ecuadorian historian, journalist and chronicler. In 1879 he founded the industrial museum known today as the Municipal Museum of Guayaquil, and directed it for 17 years. He authored numerous historical episodes, biographies and texts, such as La entrevista de Bolívar y San Martín (1918). He wrote for various newspapers, such as El Telégrafo, Diario de Avisos, Los Andes, Guayaquil Artístico, and La Nación. He also created and operated newspapers, held public office, was a volunteer firefighter and was a primary school teacher. He was a member of the National Academy of History and also received a decoration from the government of Venezuela. He was declared “Emeritus Chronicler of Guayaquil.” An institution of historical studies, a school, and a street bear his name in Guayaquil.

Víctor Manuel Rendón

Víctor Manuel Rendón Pérez (Guayaquil, December 5, 1859 – Guayaquil, October 9, 1940) was an Ecuadorian writer, poet, novelist, playwright, biographer, translator, doctor, diplomat, pianist and composer. He wrote the novel “Lorenzo Cilda” in 1906 in French. His own Spanish translation of the book got him accepted to the Ecuadorian Academy of Language in 1921. The book also earned him a Gold Medal from L’Académie française on April 3, 1925. He translated many works from Spanish to French, including a 1904 translation of the poetry of Jose Joaquin de Olmedo. He also wrote a biography about Olmedo in French titled: Olmedo homme d’ etat et poete americain, chantre de Bolívar. He spoke 4 languages, and wrote over 40 books in Spanish and French, which were published in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Ecuador. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1935 by Celiano Monge, the secretary of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language, but did not win. On two separate occasions he rejected the Presidential nomination of Ecuador.

Quintiliano Sánchez

Quintiliano Sánchez Rendón (Quito, April 13, 1848 – Ibidem, July 24, 1925) was a prominent literary figure in Ecuador, known for his contributions as a poet, novelist, journalist, translator, grammarian, and educator. His critical stance against the government of General Ignacio de Veintemilla, his directorship of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language, and his dedication to literature and education left a lasting impact. Through his captivating works, such as the novel “Amar con desobediencia,” his notable poetry like “Oda al Chimborazo,” and his translations of Latin classics, Sánchez Rendón demonstrated his artistic talent and linguistic prowess. His involvement in journalism and the founding of newspapers, along with his role as an influential teacher, further exemplified his multifaceted influence in shaping Ecuadorian literature and intellectual discourse.

Celiano Monge

Celiano Monge Navarrete (Ambato, December 15, 1856 – Quito, November 21, 1940) was an Ecuadorian poet, historiographer, journalist, politician, educator, and founder of various newspapers. He taught philosophy, rhetoric, mathematics and experimental physics in schools in Quito, Latacunga and Ambato. He occupied important positions within the teaching profession: he was the Director of Education of the Tungurahua and Pichincha Provinces; and later he was appointed Member of the Superior Council of Public Education. He was the secretary of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language and the director of the National Academy of History. In 1939 Monge was named “Ambato’s favorite son and official chronicler.”

León Vieira

León Vieira Villafuerte (Baños, October 24, 1940) is an Ecuadorian poet, novelist, biographer, journalist, painter, and teaching professor. He’s lived in Guayaquil for many years where he’s taught at various teaching schools and universities and has directed various magazines. He’s also been the vice rector of the School of Fine Arts in Guayaquil and served as Regional Undersecretary of Education. In 2016, Vieira was decorated with the Juan Montalvo Medal by the city of Ambato for his academic and literary work. His novel El doctor Jehova (1976) was a finalist of the 1972 Seix Barral Award.

Ramón Burbano Cuesta

Ramón Burbano Cuesta was an Ecuadorian poet. In 1982 he published, “Arena removida : relatos y prosa poetica.”

Alfonso Cuesta y Cuesta

Alfonso Cuesta y Cuesta (Cuenca, Ecuador, 1912 – Mérida, Venezuela, 1991) was an Ecuadorian novelist, short story writer, poet and university professor. At the Central University of Venezuela he studied law, philosophy and literature, later earning postgraduate degrees in Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain. He taught high school level when he returned to Cuenca, and later became rector of the prestigious Benigno Malo School. Around this time, he became known as a writer and formed the Elán group. His first poetry book was Motivos nuestro (1930) and his first book of short stories was Llegada de todos los trenes del mundo (1932), for which he is recognized as one of the best representatives of the indigenist movement in early 20th century Ecuadorian literature. In 1940 Cuesta again left Ecuador and moved to Caracas, Venezuela to teach at the high school named Liceo Fermín Toro, from there he went on to teach at the Central University of Venezuela, he also chaired the literature department at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of the Andes.

Arturo Cuesta Heredia

Arturo Cuesta Heredia (Azogues, August 18, 1922 – Cuenca, November 12, 2006) was an Ecuadorian lawyer, judge, writer and avant-garde poet. He obtained a law degree from the University of Cuenca in 1947. Cuesta is a member of the “ELAN group.” As a young writer he was often called, “the metaphor magician,” for his brilliant use of metaphors. His poetry book “Hermano Miguel” (1963) has been translated into various languages including Polish. Cuesta also wrote fiction, such as his short story book El callejón de los eucaliptos (1962). In 2002, the Ministry of Education and Culture awarded him the Cultural Merit Award.

Wenceslao Pareja

Dr. Wenceslao Pareja y Pareja (Guayaquil, September 1, 1880 – Quito, February 26, 1947) was an Ecuadorian doctor, medical researcher, writer and poet. As a doctor, he was one of the world’s leading experts on yellow fever, and was nominated for a joint Nobel Prize in Science for his research work with Hideyo Noguchi. Pareja published 4 books of poems. His 1912 polemic poem “Exodo,” which was published in El Guante magazine, is among the first poems to introduce modernismo in Ecuador. Pareja’s poem “La voz del río” from his first book, Voces Lejanas y otros poemas (1915), best exemplifies modernismo in his poems.