Carmen Lyra
Encyclopedia
Carmen Lyra was the pseudonym
of the first prominent female Costa Rica
n writer, born Maria Isabel Carvajal. She was politically active in the Communist Party of Costa Rica, and was one of the earliest writers to criticise the dominance of the fruit companies.
Her first novel En una silla de ruedas (In a Wheelchair), in 1918, portrays national customs and manners through the eyes of a paralysed boy who grows up to become an artist, with a strong dose of sentimentalism and intimations of the bohemian life of San Jose. A collection of folk tales Cuentos De Mi Tia Panchita (Tales of My Aunt Panchita) was published in 1920 and has remained continuously in print; the entirety of this collection appears in English translation in Horan's "The Subversive Voice of Carmen Lyra."
Carmen Lyra was a notable educator, working first as a nurse, then as a journalist, co-founding the Centro Germinal for evening classes in 1910 and starting the first Montessori pre-school in Latin America in 1926.
She had a major role in organizing women schoolteachers to burn down the building that housed the official newspaper and to overthrow the dictatorship of Costa Rica's Tinoco brothers in 1916, after which she was given a scholarship to study abroad, at the Sorbonne, in France. She is credited with translating the Communist Manifesto into Spanish in 1920. As Costa Rican politics, under pressure from the United States, moved to the right, she and other leftists were dismissed from their teaching posts in 1933. She went on to take a leading role in the banana
workers' strike
of 1934, writing Bananos y Hombres (Bananas and Men) and touring Costa Rica with a radical puppet theater.
In 1948, she was forced into political exile in Mexico
after the Costa Rican Civil War
and died there. The Costa Rica Legislative Assembly
awarded her the honour of Benemérita de la Cultura Nacional in 1976.
As of 2010 Carmen Lyra is depicted in the twenty thousand colones bill.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of the first prominent female Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
n writer, born Maria Isabel Carvajal. She was politically active in the Communist Party of Costa Rica, and was one of the earliest writers to criticise the dominance of the fruit companies.
Her first novel En una silla de ruedas (In a Wheelchair), in 1918, portrays national customs and manners through the eyes of a paralysed boy who grows up to become an artist, with a strong dose of sentimentalism and intimations of the bohemian life of San Jose. A collection of folk tales Cuentos De Mi Tia Panchita (Tales of My Aunt Panchita) was published in 1920 and has remained continuously in print; the entirety of this collection appears in English translation in Horan's "The Subversive Voice of Carmen Lyra."
Carmen Lyra was a notable educator, working first as a nurse, then as a journalist, co-founding the Centro Germinal for evening classes in 1910 and starting the first Montessori pre-school in Latin America in 1926.
She had a major role in organizing women schoolteachers to burn down the building that housed the official newspaper and to overthrow the dictatorship of Costa Rica's Tinoco brothers in 1916, after which she was given a scholarship to study abroad, at the Sorbonne, in France. She is credited with translating the Communist Manifesto into Spanish in 1920. As Costa Rican politics, under pressure from the United States, moved to the right, she and other leftists were dismissed from their teaching posts in 1933. She went on to take a leading role in the banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
workers' strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
of 1934, writing Bananos y Hombres (Bananas and Men) and touring Costa Rica with a radical puppet theater.
In 1948, she was forced into political exile in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
after the Costa Rican Civil War
Costa Rican Civil War
The Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in 20th century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days , during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died...
and died there. The Costa Rica Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
The Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislative branch of the government of Costa Rica. The national congress building is located in the city capital, San José, specifically in El Carmen District in San José Canton.-Composition:...
awarded her the honour of Benemérita de la Cultura Nacional in 1976.
As of 2010 Carmen Lyra is depicted in the twenty thousand colones bill.
Books
- En una silla de ruedas (1918)
- Cuentos De Mi Tia Panchita (1920) - paperback edition (2000) Editorial Costa Rica, ISBN 9977231354
Further reading
- The Subversive Voice of Carmen Lyra: Selected Works, tr. Elizabeth Rosa Horan, University Press of Florida (2000), ISBN 081301767X - publisher's detailshttp://www.upf.com/Spring2000/lyra.html
- Luisa González and Carlos Luis Sáenz, Carmen Lyra, San José: EUNED (1998) ISBN 9977649146 – in Spanish
Sources
- Daniel Balderston, Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003 (Encyclopedias of Contemporary Culture), Routledge (2004), ISBN 0415306876
- Carmen Lyra, Revista Comunicación, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica - bio in Spanish
- Banco Central presentó hoy los nuevos billetes http://www.nacion.com/2010-04-27/Economia/UltimaHora/Economia2351709.aspx?Page=- in Spanish
External links
- Beneméritas de la Patria, INAMU, Government of Costa Rica - bio in Spanish