Biography

Ruben Dario
Born
Metapa (Ciudad Dario)NI

Rubn Dario was a Nicaraguan poet who led the modernista movement in Latin
American and Spanish literature. Born Flix Rubn Garca Sarmiento in Metapa
(Cudad Daro), Nicaragua, on Jan. 18, 1867, he had Indian and African strains in his
ancestry. His parents separated soon after his birth, and he was raised by his
godfather, Col. Flix Ramirez. He began writing verses in early childhood. By 1882 his
poetry was being published, and he already was using the pseudonym Daro, a
patronymic of his father's family. He studied in Len, Nicaragua, at a Jesuit school and
at the National Institute. Frustrated in his attempt to win a government scholarship to
study in Europe-his poem "El libro" ("The Book"), read before the conservative
president of Nicaragua, scandalized the young poet's audience-Daro went to El
Salvador, where the philosopher, historian, and poet Francisco Gavidia introduced him
to French and Spanish poetry. In 1886, at the age of 19, Daro moved to Valparaso,
Chile, and he remained in Chile for three formative years.
During his travels in Central and South America and later in Europe as a
correspondent for La Nacin of Buenos Aires and in various diplomatic posts, Daro
acquired a broad knowledge of Spanish and French culture. While he was in Chile in
1886, he became immersed in French literature, especially in the Parnassian school of
poetry. Despite his disdain for the idea of leading a movement, he was the chief figure
among the emerging modernista writers. The modernista movement effected a
complete renovation in Spanish verse and prose style; other contributors were Jos
Marti and Julin del Casal of Cuba, Jos Asuncin Silva of Colombia, and Manuel
Gutirrez Njera of Mexico. Daro's influence on contemporary Spanish writers was
immense.
Azul ("Blue"), a collection of Daro's verse and prose sketches published in Chile in
1888, set the stage for modernism in the Spanish-speaking world. Prosas
profanas ("Worldly Prose"), published in 1896, marks the zenith of modernism and
became his most imitated work for its innovations of form and its musicality, grace,
beauty, and exoticism. His finest poems, which appeared in Cantos de vida y
esperanza (1905; "Songs of Life and Hope") and El canto errante (1907; "The
Wandering Song"), contain a new vigor and power, a technical mastery, and a note of
poetic universality intensely personal and poignant.
Daro's autobiography, La vida de Rubn Daro escrita por l mismo ("The Life of
Rubn Daro Written by Himself"), appeared in 1912, and his Lettras ("Letters") in
1911. His diplomatic career included service as Nicaraguan consul in Paris (19031907) and secretary of the Nicaraguan delegation to the Pan-American Conference
(1906). During a lecture tour in the United States in 1915, Daro became ill and
returned to Nicaragua, where he died on Feb. 6, 1916, in Len.

Biography by Rodolfo O. Floripe, Encyclopeida Americana Grolier Online. For more

information on this online reference, visit Grolier Online .