Porfirio Barba Jacob de Rodrigo Arenas Betancur

Miguel Ángel Osorio Benítez (July 29, 1883 – January 14, 1942), better known by his

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

, Porfirio Barba-Jacob, was a Colombian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and writer. Born in

Santa Rosa de Osos Santa Rosa de Osos is a middle city and municipality of Colombia located in the northern of the department of Antioquia. Bounded on the north with the municipalities of Yarumal and Angostura, on the east with Guadalupe and Carolina del Princip ...

, Antioquia, to parents Antonio María Osorio and Pastora Benítez, he was raised by his grandparents in

Angostura Angostura may refer to: Places Mexico * Angostura, Sinaloa, a city in north-west Mexico ** Angostura Municipality, Sinaloa, a municipality in Sinaloa, Mexico * Puerto de la Angostura, Coahuila, site of the 1847 Battle of Buena Vista between Amer ...

. In 1895 he started his travels, first through Colombia, and from 1907 to

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and the United States, before finally settling down in 1930 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. Around 1902 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, he founded the literary magazine "El cancionero antioqueño" (''The Antioquian songbook''), which he managed under the pseudonym Marín Jiménez. Short after, he wrote the novel "Virginia", which was never published because the original manuscript was confiscated by the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Santa Rosa for alleged immorality. In 1906 he moved to

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Co ...

where he adopted the pseudonym Ricardo Arenales. He continued to use this pseudonym until 1922 when in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

he adopted a new pseudonym which he would use for the rest of his life: Porfirio Barba-Jacob. Around 1907, still in Barranquilla, he wrote his first poems, such as "Árbol viejo", "Campiña florida", and his most famous work, "Canción de la vida profunda" (''Song of the deep life''). During his journey through

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and the US, he contributed to many magazines and journals. He befriended

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

, which led to his fleeing to

, then to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

, for disagreeing with Manuel Estrada. In 1918 he returned to Mexico, where it is said that he wrote a biography of

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

. In 1922 he was expelled by

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

and fled again to Guatemala, from where he was again expelled in 1924 by

Jorge Ubico Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan dictator. A general in the Guatemalan army, he was elected to the presidency in 1931, in an election where ...

. Barba-Jacob then went to

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

, and after being deported by Alfonso Quiñones, travelled to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and Cuba. In 1927 he returned to Colombia and, after some recitals and contributions to the Colombian journal ''

El Espectador ''El Espectador'' (meaning "The Spectator") is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It changed from a daily to a weekly editio ...

'', he left Colombia on what would be his last trip. He died in 1942 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

. Four years after his death, on 11 January 1946, his ashes were claimed by the Colombian government and were returned to the Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres. During the course of his life, Barba-Jacob was openly gay.

Main works

*Poemas intemporales

References

External links

A detailed account of Barba-Jacob's life
(in Spanish)
Barba-Jacob at Poeticous
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barba-Jacob, Porfirio 20th-century Colombian poets Colombian male poets Colombian male novelists 1883 births 1942 deaths 20th-century Colombian novelists 20th-century male writers LGBT writers from Colombia