Jorge Isaacs Ferrer (April 1, 1837 – April 17, 1895) was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish-language literature.
Jorge Isaacs
Miniature portrait of Jorge Isaacs by Víctor Moscoso
His father was George Henry Isaacs, an English Jew originally from Jamaica. He first settled in Chocó, Colombia, where he made a fortune from gold mining and trade with the Caribbean. He then moved to Cali where he applied for his Colombian citizenship from Simon Bolivar and paid for it in cows.[citation needed] (There is a plaque on a bridge north of Bogota to commemorate this[citation needed]) He married Manuela Ferrer Scarpetta, daughter of a Spanish Navy officer. He also owned two haciendas near Cali, called "La Manuelita" (named after his wife) and "El Paraíso". The latter would provide the setting for María. "El Paraiso" has been preserved as a museum, with emphasis upon its relation to the novel.
Jorge Isaacs was born in Quibdo in 1837. He was first educated in Cali, then in Popayán and, finally, in Bogotá between 1848 and 1852.
Isaacs returned to Santiago de Cali in 1852 without finishing his baccalaureate studies. In 1854 he fought for seven months in the Cauca Campaign against the dictatorship of General José María Melo. In 1856 Isaacs married Felisa González Umaña, who was fourteen years-old at the time and they went on to have many children.
During the time of the civil wars his family went through a period of economic hardship. Isaacs tried unsuccessfully to become a merchant as his father. He then turned to literature and wrote his first poems between 1859 and 1860. During that time he also wrote several dramas of historical theme. Isaacs took arms again in 1860, this time against General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, and saw action in the Battle of Manizales during the Colombian Civil War. In 1861 Isaacs's father died; when the war ended Isaacs returned to Cali to take over the administration of his father's businesses, but he found them deeply in debt. This forced him to auction off two of his father's haciendas "La Rita" and "La Manuelita", which were bought by the industrialist Santiago Eder.
Isaacs's economic hardship took him back to Bogotá, where he found that his literary efforts were being well received. The members of the reader's club "El Mosaico" offered to publish his poems after Isaacs read them in one of their sessions. This compilation was published under the name Poesías in 1864. That year Isaacs took a job as the supervisor of the construction of a horse-path between Buenaventura and Cali and started to write María. Around that time he also fell ill with malaria.
When María was published in 1867 it became an immediate success both in Colombia and in other Latin American countries. As a consequence Isaacs became a well-known personality in Colombia and his newly found fame allowed him to start a career as journalist and politician. As a journalist he directed the newspaper La República, of moderate conservative tendencies, in which he also published some articles. As a politician he first joined the Conservative Party, but later switched to the Radical Party. In 1870 he was sent to Chile as consul general. On his return to Colombia he was actively involved in the politics of Valle del Cauca, which he represented in the Colombian Congress, and in 1876 he fought in yet another civil war. However his political career ended in 1879 after an incident where he proclaimed himself political and military leader of Antioquia in response to a conservative revolt.
After his retirement from politics Isaacs published in 1881 the first canto of the poem Saulo, although he was never able to complete it. He also explored the Magdalena Department, in the north of Colombia, where he found important coal and oil deposits. Isaacs spent the last years of his life in the city of Ibagué in Tolima where was planning to write a historical novel. He died of malaria on April 17, 1895.
Literary work
Isaacs's literary work consists of his book of poems that he published in 1864 and his only novel, María (1867), considered one of the most outstanding works of Hispanic American literature of the 19th century. The book, based on romantic experiences, has an elegiac tone, and tells the story of the tragic love of Maria and her cousin Efrain, in Valle del Cauca. Like the author, Efrain must abandon Valle del Cauca to continue his studies in Bogota. He leaves his cousin Maria in Valle del Cauca, who he is in love with, and who he has a romance with when he returns six years later.
Efrain and Maria live together for some months, after which the young man has to travel to London to finish his education. When he returns, six years later, Maria has died. Some authors affirm that the character Maria was inspired by Maria Mercedes Cabal who lived in the neighborhood "El Paraiso" or "Paradise" and would later become the wife of President Manuel María Mallarino.[1]
This work has been compared with that of Chateaubriand, but also has an ominous feeling of existence similar to that of Edgar Allan Poe. The novel is known for the feeling of the landscape, as well as for the artistic quality of the writing. It can be considered a precursor of the criollist books of the 1920s and 1930s.
Maria was published in 1867 and had immediate success. It was translated into 31 languages. In Colombia as well as in other Latin American countries, Isaacs became a well recognized figure. This led to an expanded career as a journalist and politician. As a journalist, Isaacs directed, in 1867, the newspaper La Republica from a moderate conservative approach where they published articles of a political nature.
Tribute
On 1 April 2013, Google celebrated Jorge Isaacs’ 176th Birthday with a doodle.[2][3]
Cover of the novel María by Jorge Isaacs published in 1897 by Éditions Mateu. Prologue by José María de Pereda
Manuela Ferrer Scarpetta and George Henry Isaacs, the poet's parents, with another of their children.
References
^Alvarez d'Orsonville,J M. Colombia literaria, reportajes, Volumen 1. Biblioteca de autores contemporáneos. Colombia literaria, reportajes, Editor Ministerio de Educación Nacional, División de Extensión Cultural, Colombia, 1956.
^Desk, OV Digital (April 1, 2023). "1 April: Remembering Jorge Isaacs on Birthday". Observer Voice. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
^"Jorge Isaacs' 176th Birthday". www.google.com. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
Arciniegas, Germán. Genio y figura de Jorge Isaacs. Buenos Aires, 1967.
Beane, Carol. "Black Character: Toward a Dialectical Presentation in three South American Novels". En Voices from Under: Black Narrative in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ed. William Luis. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1984: 181–198.
Brown, Donald F. "Chateaubriand and the Story of Feliciana in Jorge Isaacs' María." MLN 62 (1947): 326–329.
Carvajal, Mario. Vida y pasión de Jorge Isaacs. Manizales, 1937
Embeita, María J. "El tema del amor imposible en María de Jorge Isaacs". Revista Iberoamericana 32 (1966): 109–112.
Lindstrom, Naomi. Early Spanish American Narrative. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004; sobre Isaacs, 130–137.
Magnarelli, Sharon. "María and History". Hispanic Review 49 (1981): 209–205.
Magnarelli, Sharon. "The Diseases of Love and Discoure La tía Julia y el escribidor and María". Hispanic Review 54.2 (Spring 1986): 195–205.
Magnarelli, Sharon. "The Love Story: Reading and Writing in Jorge Isaac's María". The Lost Rib: Female Characters in the Spanish American Novel. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1985: 19–37.
Pupo-Walker, Enrique. "Jorge Issacs". Latin American Writers Vol. 1. Ed. Solé/Abreu. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1989: pp. 247–251.
Reyes, Alfonso. "Cartas de Jorge Isaacs". Obras completas de Alfonso Reyes. Vol. 4. México: Fondo de Cultura Mexicana, 1955: 327–34.
Sánchez, Luis Alberto. "Jorge Isaacs". Escritores representativos de América. 3 vols. Segunda edición. Madrid: Gredos, 1963: II: 132–146.
Sommer, Doris. "El Mal de María: (Con)fusión en un romance nacional". MLN 104.2 (1989): 439–474.
---. "María's Disease: A National Romance (Con)Founded". Foundational Fictions. The National Romances of Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Trigo, Benigno. "Weaning the Virile Subject: Gender and Crisis in José María Samper y Jorge Isaacs". Subjects of Crisis: Race and Gender as Disease in Latin America. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press/University Press of New England, 2000: 47–68.
Williams, Raymond Leslie. "The Problem of Unity in Fiction: Narrator and Self in María." MLN 101.2 (1986): 342–353.
Williams, Raymond Leslie. "The Greater Cauca Tradition: From María (1867) to El bazar de los idiotas (1974)". The Colombian Novel, 1844–1987. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.
External links
Biography January 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine – in Spanish
– in Spanish
– in Spanish
El Paraíso Museum photo gallery
April 06, 2023
jorge, isaacs, this, spanish, name, first, paternal, surname, isaacs, second, maternal, family, name, ferrer, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introdu. In this Spanish name the first or paternal surname is Isaacs and the second or maternal family name is Ferrer This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jorge Isaacs Ferrer April 1 1837 April 17 1895 was a Colombian writer politician and soldier His only novel Maria became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish language literature Jorge IsaacsMiniature portrait of Jorge Isaacs by Victor MoscosoPeriod1859 1895GenreCostumbrismo poetrySubjectNovelLiterary movementRomanticismNotable worksMariaJorge Isaacs FerrerPresident of the Sovereign State of AntioquiaIn office February 1 1880 March 13 1880Preceded byPedro Restrepo UribeSucceeded byPedro Restrepo UribeUnited States of Colombia consul general to ChilePresidentEustorgio SalgarPersonal detailsBornJorge Isaacs Ferrer 1837 04 01 April 1 1837Cali Valle del Cauca ColombiaDiedApril 17 1895 1895 04 17 aged 58 Ibague Tolima ColombiaPolitical partyConservativeOther politicalaffiliationsRadical PartySpouseFelisa Gonzalez UmanaOccupationWriter journalist politicianMilitary serviceYears of service1851 1852 1860 1862Battles warsColombian Civil War 1860 1862 Contents 1 Biography 2 Literary work 3 Tribute 4 Image gallery 5 References 6 External linksBiography EditHis father was George Henry Isaacs an English Jew originally from Jamaica He first settled in Choco Colombia where he made a fortune from gold mining and trade with the Caribbean He then moved to Cali where he applied for his Colombian citizenship from Simon Bolivar and paid for it in cows citation needed There is a plaque on a bridge north of Bogota to commemorate this citation needed He married Manuela Ferrer Scarpetta daughter of a Spanish Navy officer He also owned two haciendas near Cali called La Manuelita named after his wife and El Paraiso The latter would provide the setting for Maria El Paraiso has been preserved as a museum with emphasis upon its relation to the novel Jorge Isaacs was born in Quibdo in 1837 He was first educated in Cali then in Popayan and finally in Bogota between 1848 and 1852 Isaacs returned to Santiago de Cali in 1852 without finishing his baccalaureate studies In 1854 he fought for seven months in the Cauca Campaign against the dictatorship of General Jose Maria Melo In 1856 Isaacs married Felisa Gonzalez Umana who was fourteen years old at the time and they went on to have many children During the time of the civil wars his family went through a period of economic hardship Isaacs tried unsuccessfully to become a merchant as his father He then turned to literature and wrote his first poems between 1859 and 1860 During that time he also wrote several dramas of historical theme Isaacs took arms again in 1860 this time against General Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera and saw action in the Battle of Manizales during the Colombian Civil War In 1861 Isaacs s father died when the war ended Isaacs returned to Cali to take over the administration of his father s businesses but he found them deeply in debt This forced him to auction off two of his father s haciendas La Rita and La Manuelita which were bought by the industrialist Santiago Eder Isaacs s economic hardship took him back to Bogota where he found that his literary efforts were being well received The members of the reader s club El Mosaico offered to publish his poems after Isaacs read them in one of their sessions This compilation was published under the name Poesias in 1864 That year Isaacs took a job as the supervisor of the construction of a horse path between Buenaventura and Cali and started to write Maria Around that time he also fell ill with malaria When Maria was published in 1867 it became an immediate success both in Colombia and in other Latin American countries As a consequence Isaacs became a well known personality in Colombia and his newly found fame allowed him to start a career as journalist and politician As a journalist he directed the newspaper La Republica of moderate conservative tendencies in which he also published some articles As a politician he first joined the Conservative Party but later switched to the Radical Party In 1870 he was sent to Chile as consul general On his return to Colombia he was actively involved in the politics of Valle del Cauca which he represented in the Colombian Congress and in 1876 he fought in yet another civil war However his political career ended in 1879 after an incident where he proclaimed himself political and military leader of Antioquia in response to a conservative revolt After his retirement from politics Isaacs published in 1881 the first canto of the poem Saulo although he was never able to complete it He also explored the Magdalena Department in the north of Colombia where he found important coal and oil deposits Isaacs spent the last years of his life in the city of Ibague in Tolima where was planning to write a historical novel He died of malaria on April 17 1895 Literary work EditIsaacs s literary work consists of his book of poems that he published in 1864 and his only novel Maria 1867 considered one of the most outstanding works of Hispanic American literature of the 19th century The book based on romantic experiences has an elegiac tone and tells the story of the tragic love of Maria and her cousin Efrain in Valle del Cauca Like the author Efrain must abandon Valle del Cauca to continue his studies in Bogota He leaves his cousin Maria in Valle del Cauca who he is in love with and who he has a romance with when he returns six years later Efrain and Maria live together for some months after which the young man has to travel to London to finish his education When he returns six years later Maria has died Some authors affirm that the character Maria was inspired by Maria Mercedes Cabal who lived in the neighborhood El Paraiso or Paradise and would later become the wife of President Manuel Maria Mallarino 1 This work has been compared with that of Chateaubriand but also has an ominous feeling of existence similar to that of Edgar Allan Poe The novel is known for the feeling of the landscape as well as for the artistic quality of the writing It can be considered a precursor of the criollist books of the 1920s and 1930s Maria was published in 1867 and had immediate success It was translated into 31 languages In Colombia as well as in other Latin American countries Isaacs became a well recognized figure This led to an expanded career as a journalist and politician As a journalist Isaacs directed in 1867 the newspaper La Republica from a moderate conservative approach where they published articles of a political nature Tribute EditOn 1 April 2013 Google celebrated Jorge Isaacs 176th Birthday with a doodle 2 3 Image gallery Edit Jorge Isaacs s home in Santiago de Cali Valle del Cauca Colombia Jorge Isaacs s monument Santiago de Cali Valle del Cauca Jorge Isaacs in 1856 Cover of the novel Maria by Jorge Isaacs published in 1897 by Editions Mateu Prologue by Jose Maria de Pereda Manuela Ferrer Scarpetta and George Henry Isaacs the poet s parents with another of their children References Edit Alvarez d Orsonville J M Colombia literaria reportajes Volumen 1 Biblioteca de autores contemporaneos Colombia literaria reportajes Editor Ministerio de Educacion Nacional Division de Extension Cultural Colombia 1956 Desk OV Digital April 1 2023 1 April Remembering Jorge Isaacs on Birthday Observer Voice Retrieved April 1 2023 Jorge Isaacs 176th Birthday www google com Retrieved April 1 2023 Arciniegas German Genio y figura de Jorge Isaacs Buenos Aires 1967 Beane Carol Black Character Toward a Dialectical Presentation in three South American Novels En Voices from Under Black Narrative in Latin America and the Caribbean Ed William Luis Westport Greenwood Press 1984 181 198 Brown Donald F Chateaubriand and the Story of Feliciana in Jorge Isaacs Maria MLN 62 1947 326 329 Carvajal Mario Vida y pasion de Jorge Isaacs Manizales 1937 Embeita Maria J El tema del amor imposible en Maria de Jorge Isaacs Revista Iberoamericana 32 1966 109 112 Lindstrom Naomi Early Spanish American Narrative Austin University of Texas Press 2004 sobre Isaacs 130 137 Magnarelli Sharon Maria and History Hispanic Review 49 1981 209 205 Magnarelli Sharon The Diseases of Love and Discoure La tia Julia y el escribidor and Maria Hispanic Review 54 2 Spring 1986 195 205 Magnarelli Sharon The Love Story Reading and Writing in Jorge Isaac s Maria The Lost Rib Female Characters in the Spanish American Novel Lewisburg Bucknell University Press 1985 19 37 Pupo Walker Enrique Jorge Issacs Latin American Writers Vol 1 Ed Sole Abreu NY Charles Scribner s Sons 1989 pp 247 251 Reyes Alfonso Cartas de Jorge Isaacs Obras completas de Alfonso Reyes Vol 4 Mexico Fondo de Cultura Mexicana 1955 327 34 Sanchez Luis Alberto Jorge Isaacs Escritores representativos de America 3 vols Segunda edicion Madrid Gredos 1963 II 132 146 Sommer Doris El Mal de Maria Con fusion en un romance nacional MLN 104 2 1989 439 474 Maria s Disease A National Romance Con Founded Foundational Fictions The National Romances of Latin America Berkeley University of California Press 1991 Trigo Benigno Weaning the Virile Subject Gender and Crisis in Jose Maria Samper y Jorge Isaacs Subjects of Crisis Race and Gender as Disease in Latin America Hanover Wesleyan University Press University Press of New England 2000 47 68 Williams Raymond Leslie The Problem of Unity in Fiction Narrator and Self in Maria MLN 101 2 1986 342 353 Williams Raymond Leslie The Greater Cauca Tradition From Maria 1867 to El bazar de los idiotas 1974 The Colombian Novel 1844 1987 Austin University of Texas Press 1991 External links EditBiography Archived January 5 2010 at the Wayback Machine in Spanish Online edition of Maria in Spanish Maria as a free ebook Feedbooks in Spanish El Paraiso Museum photo gallery Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jorge Isaacs amp oldid 1147719512, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
