Isaac Felipe Azofeifa Bolaños (11 April 1909 – 3 April 1997) was a

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

educator 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 ...

. Azofeifa is considered one of the most important Costa Rican poets of the twentieth century.

Biography

He was born in Santo Domingo de Heredia,

in 1909. In 1929 he entered the Instituto Pedagógico de Santiago de Chile (Pedagogical Institute of Santiago), where he became Professor of State in Castilian. He became a member of the '' Runrunismo'' group where he met poets such as

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

, Juvencio Valle and

Pablo de Rokha Pablo de Rokha (born Carlos Ignacio Díaz Loyola; 17 October 1894 – 10 September 1968) was a Chilean poet. He won the Chilean Premio Nacional de Literatura de Chile, Premio Nacional de Literatura (National Literature Prize) in 1965 and is c ...

. In 1935 he returned to Costa Rica and it dedicated his life to literature, the education and politics. He won second place in a contest to write a diary of Costa Rica. From 1943 until his retirement, he was professor of Literature in the University of Costa Rica. He spent many years reading literature, and published his first poem book, ''Truncates Unit'' in 1958. He then went on to publish ''Vigilia en pie de muerte'' (1962), ''Canción'' (1964), ''Estaciones'' (1967) and ''Días y territorios'' (1969), among others. Azofeifa obtained important distinctions and prizes: Academic of the Language; National prize of Poetry and in 1980 the National Prize of Culture, MAGON. Azofeifa was one of the main founders of social democracy, most notably, one of the founders of the National Liberation Party. He was ambassador of Costa Rica in Chile during the Orlich administration and in the USSR, during the Monge administration. both administrations of the National Liberation Party. In 1989, he founded the Progress Party, for which he was running for president of Costa Rica in 1990. Later he founded the Democratic Force. He died in April 1997 at the age of 87.

Works

*Trunca Unidad (1958) *Vigilia en pie de muerte (1962) *Canción (1964) *Estaciones (1967) *Días y territorios (1969) *Cima del gozo (1974) *Cruce de vía (1982) *Órbita (1996)

References

1909 births 1997 deaths People from Santo Domingo (canton), Costa Rica National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) politicians Democratic Force (Costa Rica) politicians 20th-century Costa Rican poets Costa Rican male poets Ambassadors of Costa Rica to Chile Ambassadors of Costa Rica to the Soviet Union 20th-century Costa Rican male writers {{CostaRica-poet-stub