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Vallejo Cesar 1892 - 1938 (46)

The arts (painting, poetry, etc.) are not just these arts. Eating, drinking, walking are also arts, every act is an art.


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The Black Heralds

César Vallejo (March 16, 1892 - April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, considered one of the most important Latin American poets of the 20th century. He was born in the remote village of Santiago de Chuco, Peru, as one of eleven children in a poor and highly religious family.

Vallejo initially studied literature, but he was forced to stop due to a lack of money. He had to work in plantations and factories, where he experienced firsthand the exploitation of employers. This experience influenced both his poetry and his political beliefs. He managed to obtain a degree in literature in 1915 and moved to Lima, where he worked as a teacher. In 1919, he published his first collection of poetry with the money he had won in a poetry competition. At the same time, he lost his job because he refused to marry a woman with whom he had an affair.

In 1920, Vallejo was accused of plotting an uprising and was imprisoned for 120 days. In reality, he was punished for his leftist ideas. In 1922, he published his second collection of poetry, which he had written while in prison the previous year. He was at risk of being imprisoned again because of his political beliefs, so he decided to emigrate to Paris. He lived a life of great poverty there, often homeless and without food, while continuing to write poetry. Vallejo died in 1938 from an unknown cause, although it is speculated that it may have been malaria.