Elsa Wiezell (November 19, 1926 – August 23, 2014) was a

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

an poetess,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Her work also includes paintings that reside in art galleries and cultural centers of Asunción. She was born in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, daughter of Julia Apezteguía and Rubén Wiezell, of Swedish descent.

Childhood and youth

She spent her childhood surrounded by her family, playing games and pranks with her siblings Genoveva and Nills in the once quiet streets of

Zeballos Cué Zeballos Cué is a neighbourhood (''barrio'') of Asunción, Paraguay. Geography

;Límits Paraguay River to the north. Loma Pytá (Asunción), Loma Pytá neighbourhood to the south. Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay, Mariano Roque Alonso Ci ...

. They moved later and definitively to Asunción. She completed her primary studies in Asuncion at the International School. In her youth, her inclination towards poetry was evident, and she began her first literary works at that time. Entranced in her thoughts, she always searched for places of self-discovery. This took her to the college studies at the National University of Asuncion, where she finished her studies with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and literature in 1950.

Career

After graduating, she taught Secondary Level psychology courses at the Benjamin Aceval School in Asunción. She was also in charge of the psychology class at the University of Columbia. Committed to the diffusion of arts and culture within Paraguay, she founded such institutions as the Modern Art Museum, the journal ''The Feminist'' (for which she was chief editor), and the Belle Arts School, serving as director from 1965 to 1977.

Awards

Throughout her career, Elsa Wiezell has been internationally acclaimed and rewarded (even more than in her own native Paraguay) and is considered by many critics and academic scholars to be amongst the most important and influential Spanish-language poets of her time. Many scholars study her work, including Charles Richard Carlisle (Professor of Spanish Literature at Southwest Texas University in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States), Carlos Sabat Ercasty Carlos Sabat Ercasty and Norma Suiffet (Professor of Literature at Institute of Superior Studies in Uruguay and Specialist in Spanish Philosophy at the University of

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, Spain).

Style

Her work can be perceived as a placid poetic style. Her loose verses give the sensation of peaceful freedom and smooth movement. Her style is considered rich in literary language. The inspiration and subjects of her works are almost tangible. Water is a recurrent subject, and she also refers to loneliness and to the dreams that usually clash with a reality manifested, for example, as "painful destiny of the body at the earth...". Carlos Sabat Ercasty has written, "The work of Elsa Wiezell is beautiful and dignified, predetermined by a noble double heroism, marching high and sustaining flight..."

Family

She was married to Vicente Ferrer Espínola, and had three children:

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

, Armando and Patricia.

References

* Wiezell, Elsa "Tren del agua" ("Train of the Water"). Imprenta Salesiana. 1996. Asuncion.

External links

Los Poetas

El Poder De La Palabra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiezell, Elsa 1926 births 2014 deaths Paraguayan feminists Paraguayan people of Basque descent Paraguayan people of Swedish descent Paraguayan women painters Paraguayan women poets People from Asunción Universidad Nacional de Asunción alumni 20th-century Paraguayan painters 20th-century Paraguayan poets 21st-century Paraguayan poets 20th-century Paraguayan women writers 21st-century Paraguayan women writers 21st-century women artists 20th-century women painters