José Rafael de Pombo y Rebolledo (November 7, 1833 – May 5, 1912) was a Colombian poet born in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. Trained as a mathematician and an engineer in a military school, Rafael Pombo served in the army and he traveled to the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

as Secretary of the Legation in Washington. After completing his diplomatic assignment, he was hired by D. Appleton & Company in New York to translate into Spanish

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fro ...

from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

oral tradition. The product of this work, more than a translation, was a transformative adaptation published in two books under the titles ''Cuentos pintados para niños'' and ''Cuentos morales para niños formales''. In spite of his extensive and diverse literary works, Rafael Pombo is mostly remembered for this contribution to children's literature. Among his most popular children's fables are ''Michín'', ''Juan Chunguero'', ''Pastorcita'', '' La Pobre Viejecita'', '' Simón el Bobito'', '' El Gato Bandido'', and '' El Renacuajo paseador''. After seventeen years in the United States of America, Rafael Pombo returned to Colombia, where he worked as a celebrated translator and journalist (founding several newspapers). On August 20, 1905 he was crowned as

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

's best poet - his ''Poesías Completas'' was published in 1957, from which the poe
El Niágara''
was taken. Rafael Pombo remained in

until his death on May 5, 1912.

References

WikiSource
has the original works of Rafael Pombo

* ttp://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/ninos/relatoi/rela3.htm Shorter entry in the Online Library of Colombia's Central Bank (Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango)
Short Biography in the official website of the Presidency of Colombia

Entry in the Online Library of the Andes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pombo, Rafael Del Rosario University alumni Colombian diplomats 19th-century Colombian poets 20th-century Colombian poets Colombian male poets 1833 births 1912 deaths Burials at Central Cemetery of Bogotá 20th-century Colombian male writers Colombian children's writers