Froylán Turcios (July 7, 1875 – November 19, 1943) was a Honduran writer, journalist and politician. He is considered one of the most important Honduran intellectuals of the early 20th century.

Background and political roles

He was born in

Juticalpa Juticalpa () is the capital of Olancho Department in Honduras, with a population of 69,850 (2020 calculation), and the municipal seat of Juticalpa Municipality. Situated in a broad river valley alongside the Rio Juticalpa, the town is a commerc ...

Olancho Olancho is the largest of all the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department covers a total surface area of 24,057 km² and has an estimated 2015 population of 537,306 inhabitants. The departmental capital is Juticalpa, w ...

. He was Minister of Interior, Member of the National Congress of Honduras and delegate to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

in Geneva. He was private secretary of guerrilla

Augusto César Sandino Augusto C. Sandino (; May 18, 1895 February 21, 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón de Sandino y José de María Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupat ...

in Nicaragua, and a personal friend of

Rubén Darío Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (January 18, 1867 – February 6, 1916), known as Rubén Darío ( , ), was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as ''modernismo'' (modernism) that flourished at the end of ...

Juan Ramón Molina Juan Ramón Molina (1875–1908) was a national List of Hondurans, Honduran poet. The National Library Juan Ramón Molina, being the national library of Honduras, was named after him in 2009. In 1954, the Juan Ramón Molina Bridge was built in hi ...

and many other intellectuals and philosophers.

Writing activities

He directed the

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

daily paper '' El Tiempo'' and founded the journals, ''El Pensamiento'' (1894), ''Revista Nueva'' (1902), ''Arte y Letras'' (1903) and ''Esfinge'' (1905), among others. 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 published the newspapers ''El Tiempo'' ( 1904),''El Domingo'' (1908) and in Honduras ''El Heraldo'' (1909), ''El Nuevo Tiempo'' (1911), and ''Boletín de La Defensa Nacional'' (1924).

Violent themes

Turcios was especially against American involvement in Honduras, bitterly so. His literature tended to be violent stories, influenced by the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, with strong plots; indeed, in 'La Mejor Limosna' (The Best Act of Charity), from ''Cuentos del Amor y la Muerte'' (Stories of Love and Death) (1930), Turcios' narrator seemingly advocates 'mercy killings'.Froilán Turcios, 'La mejor Limosna', from ''Cuentos de Amor y de Muerte'', in: José Sanz y Díaz ed., ''Antología de Cuentistas Hispanoamericanos'', Madrid: Colección Crisol, 1945

Works

* Mariposas (1895) * Renglones (1899) * Hojas de Otoño (1905) * Anabel Lee (1906) * El Vampiro (1910) * Tierra Materna (1911) * El Fantasma Blanco (1911) * Prosas nuevas (1914) * Floresita sonora (1915) * Cuentos del Amor y la Muerte (1930) * Páginas del Ayer (1932)

Death

He died in San Jose, Costa Rica but was returned to Honduras and buried in Tegucigalpa.

References

2.Short film : La Risa de la Muerte (Laughter of Death), adaptation of his short story from Cuentos del Amor y de la Muerte (Tales of Love and death). Director Maria José Pinel, Honduras 2010

External links

* * Short film: Laughter of Death (La Risa de la Muerte) http://vimeo.com/44779184 Honduran male writers Honduran journalists Male journalists 1874 births 1943 deaths Government ministers of Honduras Deputies of the National Congress of Honduras Permanent Representatives of Honduras to the League of Nations People from Olancho Department {{Honduras-writer-stub