Blanca Leonor Varela Gonzáles (10 August 1926 – 12 March 2009) was a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian poet. Daughter of writer, poet, singer and journalist Serafina Quinteras.

Biography

Blanca Varela was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. Her mother was a composer who authored many famous creole

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

es. Varela studied Humanities and Education at the

National University of San Marcos The National University of San Marcos (, UNMSM) is a public university, public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. In the Americas, it is the first officially established (Privilege (legal ethics), privilege by Charles V, ...

where she met other future writers such as Sebastián Salazar Bondy, Javier Sologuren,

Jorge Eduardo Eielson Jorge Eduardo Eielson (April 13, 1924 – March 8, 2006) was a Peruvian artist and writer. As an artist, he is known for his quipus, a reinterpretation of an ancient Andean device, they are considered precursors of conceptual art. Life an ...

, and her future husband, the artist and sculptor Fernando de Szyszlo with whom she had two children. In 1949 they traveled to Paris where she met

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

, a key figure in her life, who introduced her to the artists and intellectuals there, such as

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

Henri Michaux Henri Michaux (; 24 May 1899 – 19 October 1984) was a Belgian-born French poet, writer and painter. Michaux is renowned for his strange, highly original poetry and prose, and also for his art: the Paris Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenhei ...

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

and

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

, among others; and also other Latin American authors who lived in France at that time, for example

Carlos Martínez Rivas Carlos Martínez Rivas (1924-1998) was a Nicaraguan poet, most famous for his poem "El paraíso recobrado" ("The recovered paradise"), a love poem first published in 1944. Early years and time in Spain Rivas was born on October 12, 1924, in Puer ...

. While in Paris, Varela was part of the group of expatriate Latin American artists and writers who met regularly at the

Café de Flore Café de Flore () is one of the oldest coffeehouses in Paris, known for its emblematic shopfront and celebrated for its famous clientele, which in the past included influential writers, philosophers, and members of Parisian high society (tout-Par ...

, engaging in vigorous discussions on how they could participate in the international modern movement while preserving their Latin American cultural identity. Paz persuaded her to publish her poetry, and in the preface to the first edition of her debut book ''Ese puerto existe'' (1959), he wrote: "At that time we all used to sing. And among those songs, you could hear a lonesome song of one Peruvian girl: Blanca Varela. The most secret, timid, and natural of them all." Rigorous Poetry and Enjoyment; "of rebellion", in the words of

. Later Varela lived in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and Washington, D.C. In 1962 she returned to Lima and since then traveled mainly to US, Spain, and France. She was awarded the ''Medalla de Honor'' by the Peruvian National Institute of Culture, the ''Premio Octavio Paz de Poesía y Ensayo'' (Octavio Paz Prize for poetry and essays), the ''Premio Internacional de Poesía Ciudad de Granada Federico García Lorca'' (City of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

International Poetry Prize, 2006; as the first woman ever), and the ''Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana'' (Queen Sophia's Prize for Iberoamerican Poetry, 2007).

Personal life

Varela was married to Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo, with whom he had two children. Their second son, Juan Lorenzo, a dual American-Peruvian citizen, was killed in the crash of

Faucett Perú Flight 251 Faucett Perú Flight 251 was a scheduled domestic flight from Lima to Tacna, with a stopover in Arequipa. On 29 February 1996, while completing the first leg, the Boeing 737-200 operating the route crashed on approach to Rodríguez Ballón Inte ...

, near

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

on 29 February 1996, aged 36.

Poetry

Her poems are

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

in the way that they try to express the world in an innocent way from the inner space's point of view, yet they cannot prevent cruelty from coming into them from the outside world. This attempt to find perfection with every new poem has, according to

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (28 March 1936 – 13 April 2025) was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists a ...

who used Varela's poem ''Ternera acosada por tábanos'' (''Calf tortured by horse-flies'')Ternera acosada por tábanos
/ref> as a notable example of her philosophy, "the quality of heroes from ancient myths who die, but fight to the very last moment anyway." Her books have been translated into English, German, Italian,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, Russian and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

. Collections of poetry * ''Ese puerto existe'' (That port exists), 1959 * ''Luz de día'' (Daylight), 1963 * ''Valses y otras falsas confesiones'' (Waltzes and other false confessions), 1971 * ''Ejercicios materiales'' (Material exercises), 1978-1993 * ''Canto Villano'' (Song of dirtiness), 1978 * ''Camino a Babel'' (Road to Babel), 1986 * ''El libro de barro'' (The Book of Clay), 1993-1994 * ''Concierto animal'' (Animals' concert), 1999 * ''Poesía Escogida'' * ''Como Dios en la Nada'' (Anthology 1949–1988) * ''El falso teclado'' (The Fake Keyboard), 2001

References

External links

Info, photo and poetry in English

10. 5. 2007, Lorca's Granada Prize, with a photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varela G, Blanca 1926 births 2009 deaths Writers from Lima Peruvian people of Galician descent Peruvian people of Spanish descent Peruvian people of Ecuadorian descent Peruvian women poets Peruvian surrealist writers 20th-century Peruvian writers 20th-century Peruvian poets 20th-century Peruvian women writers 21st-century Peruvian writers 21st-century Peruvian poets 21st-century Peruvian women writers National University of San Marcos alumni Surrealist artists Surrealist writers Women surrealist artists