Enrique Amorim (July 25, 1900 – July 28, 1960) was an

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and writer, best known for his story ''Las quitanderas'' whose plot centers on rural

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

; also known for his

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

Biography

Enrique Amorim was born in

Salto, Uruguay Salto () is the capital city of the Salto Department in northwestern Uruguay. As of the 2023 census it had a population of 114,084 and is the second most populated city in Uruguay, after Montevideo. History During the Guarani War the governor of ...

to parents who were wealthy cattle ranchers. His father was from a Portuguese background, his mother

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

. Amorim travelled extensively in Europe and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, developing acquaintanceships and friendships with many of the leading literary figures of his time. He eventually had a house built in Salto, designed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. In the 1920s Amorim wrote for the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

leftist magazine ''Los Pensadores'' and published with the press Claridad, both associated with the left-leaning

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

-based Boedo group. In 1947 Amorim officially joined the Communist Party of Uruguay. He was also responsible for the erection of a monument in Salto to commemorate

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 ...

, the poet and playwright killed by

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

's forces in the opening weeks of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. He is mentioned in Borges' story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius".

Works

Novels

* ''La carreta'' (1929) * ''El paisano Aguilar'' (1934) * ''La edad despareja'' (1938) * ''El caballo y su sombra'' (1941) (English translation ''The Horse and His Shadow'' (Scribner 1943)) * ''La luna se hizo con agua'' (1944) * ''El asesino desvelado'' (1946) * ''Feria de farsantes'' (1952) * ''Eva Burgos'' (1960)

Books of short stories

* ''Amorim'' (1923) * ''Horizontes y bocacalles'' (1926) * ''Tráfico'' (1927) * ''La trampa del pajonal'' (1928) * ''Del 1 al 6'' (1932) * ''La plaza de las carretas'' (1937) * ''Después del temporal'' (1953)

Books of poems

* ''Veinte años'' (1920) * ''Visitas al cielo'' (1929) * ''Poemas uruguayos'' (1935) * ''Dos poemas'' (1940) * ''Primero de Mayo'' (1949) * ''Quiero'' (1954) * ''Sonetos de amor en verano'' (1958)

Plays

* ''La segunda sangre'' (1950) * ''Don Juan 38'' (1958)

References

* K.E.A. Mose ''Enrique Amorim: The Passion of a Uruguayan'' (Madrid :Plaza Mayor, 1973) * Alvaro Miranda ''Enrique Amorim // Enfoques críticos sobre Enrique Amorim'' (Montevideo: Editores Asociados, 1990) * Leonardo Garet ''La pasión creadora de Enrique Amorim'' (Montevideo: Editores Asociados, 1990)

External links

* Much of the information in this article comes from http://www.todo-argentina.net/Literatura_argentina/Biografias_de_literatura/enrique_amorim.htm.
Biographical notes on Amorim and other famous natives of Salto

IMDB filmography

F. Scott Helwig "Narrative Techniques in the Novels of Enrique Amorim" (dissertation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amorim, Enrique 1900 births 1960 deaths People from Salto, Uruguay Uruguayan Marxist writers Uruguayan people of Portuguese descent Uruguayan communists Uruguayan dramatists and playwrights Uruguayan male dramatists and playwrights Uruguayan male novelists Uruguayan male short story writers 20th-century Uruguayan novelists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Uruguayan short story writers