Salomé Ureña

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Salomé Ureña
Salomé Ureña, Dominican poet.
Born	October 21, 1850 (1850-10-21) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Died	1897 (aged 46–47) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Occupation	Poet, Pedagogist, Writer
Writing period	1867–1897

Salomé Ureña de Henríquez (1850-1897) better known as Salomé Ureña, was a revered poet and pedagogist of the Dominican Republic. Born in Santo Domingo in 1850, she is one of the central figures of lyrical poetry of the XIX century, and an innovator of the feminine education in her country.

[edit] Biography

Ureña was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on october 21, 1850. She was the daughter of writer Nicolás Ureña de Mendoza and Gregoria Díaz, who gave her daughter her first lessons of education. At an early age Salomé was well influenced by literature. Her father taught her the classic works of Spanish and French writers that helped the young Salomé to develop her own career.

She began publishing her first works at the age of seventeen and soon became known for her spontaneity and tenderness. Later on, she became more tragic and sad with poems such as "En horas de angustia" (In Hours of Anguish) or very patriotic and strong in poems such as "La Patria" (The Motherland) and "Ruinas" (Ruins). She would include more themes of her own life in her poetry, as noted in "Mi Pedro" (dedicated to her son, perhaps her most affectionate poem), "La llegada del invierno" (The Arrival of the Winter), and a book that became very popular called "Steven", where she talks about her country, her family, the plants and flowers, and the island itself.

At the age of twenty, she married Doctor Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal, himself a writer, and an important figure in politics. She had four children with him: Francisco, Pedro, Max y Camila Henríquez Ureña. Their children would later become highly respected figures of the mid and late XX century as writers, philosophers, poets, and critics of the arts.

Around 1881 Salomé was encouraged by her husband to open the first center of superior education for young women in the Dominican Republic, which she did under the name of "Instituto de Señoritas". Within five years, the first six female teachers were graduated from the Institute, something uncommon at the time.

Salomé Ureña died in 1897 due to complications with tuberculosis. She was 47 years old.