Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an poet born to an

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

family. He promoted the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of the literary movement called ''

Creacionismo Creationism () was a literary movement initiated by Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro around 1912. Creationism is based on the idea of a poem as a truly ''new'' thing, created by the author for the sake of itself—that is, not to praise another ...

'' ("Creationism").

Life and work

Early years

Huidobro was born into a wealthy family from

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. He spent his first years in Europe, and was educated by French and English governesses. Once his family was back in Chile, Vicente was enrolled at the Colegio San Ignacio, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

secondary school in Santiago, where he was expelled for wearing a ring that he claimed was a wedding ring. In 1910 he studied literature at the Instituto Pedagogico of the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, but a good part of his knowledge of literature and poetry came from his mother, poet María Luisa Fernández Bascuñán. She used to host "tertulias" or salons in the family home, where sometimes up to 60 people came to talk and to listen to her talk about literature, with guests including members of the family, servants, maids and a dwarf. Later, in 1912, she would help him financially and emotionally to publish his first magazine "Musa Joven" (Young Muse). In 1911 he published ''Ecos del alma'' (''Echoes of the Soul''), a work with

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

tones. The following year he married Manuela Portales Bello. In 1913 he published ''Canciones en la noche'' (''Songs in the Night''). The book included some poems previously published in "Musa Joven" as well as his first

calligram A calligram is a set of words arranged in such a way that it forms a thematically related image. It can be a poem, a phrase, a portion of scripture, or a single word; the visual arrangement can rely on certain use of the typeface, calligraphy o ...

, "Triángulo armónico" ("Harmonic Triangle"). In 1913, along with Carlos Díaz Loyola (better known as

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 ...

), he published three issues of the magazine ''Azul'' (Blue), and published both ''Canciones en la noche'' and ''La gruta del silencio'' (''The Grotto of Silence''). The next year, he gave a lecture, ''

Non serviam ''Non serviam'' is Latin for "I will not serve". Today "non serviam" is also used as a motto by a number of political, cultural, and religious groups to express their wish to rebel. It may be used to express a radical view against established b ...

'', in which he reflected on his

aesthetic Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...

vision. The same year, in "Pasando y Pasando" (“Passing and Passing”), Vicente explained his religious doubts, earning himself the reproach of both his family and the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. The same year, he published "Las pagodas ocultas" (1916), and signed it for the first time as Vicente Huidobro.

Move abroad

In 1916, he traveled to Buenos Aires with

Teresa Wilms Montt María Teresa de las Mercedes Wilms Montt (8 September 1893 – 24 December 1921; pseudonyms Tebal and Teresa de la Cruz), also known as Thérèse Wilms Montt, was a Chilean writer, poet, and anarcha-feminist. Described as "embodying sexua ...

, a young poet whom he had rescued from a convent. While in Buenos Aires, Huidobro outlined his creationism literary theory, later a literary movement, and published "El espejo de agua" (The Mirror of Water). Also in 1916, he moved to Europe with his wife and children. While passing through

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, he met Rafael Cansino Assens, with whom he had exchanged letters since 1914. He settled in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and published ''Adán'' (1916), a work that began his next phase of artistic development. Huidobro met and mixed with most of the Parisian

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

of this period:

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic g ...

Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...

Francis Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, writer, filmmaker, magazine publisher, poet, and typography, typographist closely associated with Dada. When consid ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

and

Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars (), was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European ...

. In 1917, he contributed to the magazine Nord-Sud edited by

Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual app ...

, along with

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, c ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

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'') ...

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...

and

Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic c ...

, until a disagreement with Reverdy forced him to leave the magazine. That same year he published ''Horizon carré'', including poems previously shown in "El espejo de agua" translated to French with the help of

. In October 1918, Huidobro traveled to Madrid, making the first in a series of annual trips to that city. There he shared both ''

'' and his knowledge of the Parisian vanguard with the artistic elite. In Madrid, Vicente met with

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

, refugees in Spain, and resumed his friendship with Rafael Cansinos-Assens. He started the literary movement ''

Ultraísmo The Ultraist movement () was a literary movement born in Spain in 1918, with the declared intention of opposing Modernismo, which had dominated Spanish poetry since the end of the 19th century. The movement was launched in the tertulias of Mad ...

'', corresponded with

and collaborated with him on his

Dadaist Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

magazine. In 1919, he brought to Madrid a rough draft of the series of poems that would eventually become his masterpiece, '' Altazor''. That same year, he took some science classes and became interested in esoteric subjects like

astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, ancient

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

among other forms of

occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

. While in Paris, he worked with

Amédée Ozenfant Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. Education Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois ...

and

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 ...

(Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris) at L' Esprit Nóuveau, a magazine directed by

Paul Dermée Paul Dermée (1886–1951) was a Belgian writer, poet, literary critic. Born Camille Janssen in Liège, Belgium in 1886, he died in Paris in 1951. He knew the painters Picasso, Juan Gris, Sonia and Robert Delaunay and the poets Valéry Larbaud a ...

. There he also worked for the Spanish magazines "Grecia", "Cervantes", "Tableros" and "Ultra". In the

El Liberal ''El Liberal'' was a Spanish liberal newspaper published in Madrid between 1879 and 1936. It was one of the leading papers of Spain under the Restoration. Between 1890 and 1906, ''El Liberal'' was edited by Miguel Moya (1856–1920), a leading ...

, a Spanish newspaper, journalist and literary critic

Enrique Gómez Carrillo Enrique Gómez Carrillo (February 27, 1873 in Guatemala City – November 29, 1927 in Paris) was a Guatemalan literary critic, writer, journalist and diplomat, and the second husband of the Salvadoran-French writer and artist Consuelo Suncin de ...

published an interview with

where he accuses Huidobro of antedating the edition of "El espejo de agua" and claims that he himself created "creacionismo". Grecia magazine took Huidobro's side, and between August and September Huidobro traveled to Madrid to refute Gómez Carrillo's claims. Triangulo armonico

Altazor and creacionismo

In 1921, Huidobro founded and edited an international art magazine, ''Creación'' (Creation), in Madrid. The magazine featured a Lipchitz sculpture and paintings by

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

. In November he printed a second issue in Paris, titled ''Création Revue d'Art''. In December he presented his famous lecture, ''La Poesía'' (''Poetry''), which served as prologue to his works ''Temblor de Cielo'' (''Tremor of Heaven''), and "Saisons Choisies" (Chosen Seasons). The next year, Huidobro presented his theory of "Pure Creation" at "Branche Studio" in Paris, and then in Berlin and Stockholm.He wrote for the Polish magazine "Nowa Sztuka". In Paris, his "Painted poems" exhibition at the Théâtre Edouard VII was shut down for being too "disruptive". In 1923, he published "Finis Britannia", a critique of the British empire, which provoked antipathy from the British and resulted in him receiving a postcard in support from

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. In 1924 he was -arguably- kidnapped for this reason, disappearing for three days. Later in an interview, he briefly commented that the perpetrators of the kidnap were two "Irish scouts" but refused to give more details. Huidobro continued with his diverse artistic activities in Europe, producing the third edition of "Création", where he published his "Manifeste peut-être" (Maybe Manifesto). Collaborator in this edition included

René Crevel René Crevel (; 10 August 1900 – 18 June 1935) was a French writer involved with the surrealist movement. Life Crevel was born in Paris to a family of Parisian bourgeoisie. He had a traumatic religious upbringing. At the age of fourteen, hi ...

, Juan Larrea and

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

. He joined the French

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

and met Spanish philosopher and writer

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (; ; 29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical ...

, who was exiled in Paris at the time. In 1925 he returned to

, where he edited and published "Acción. Diario de Purificación Nacional" (Action: Journal of National Purification) a

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

newspaper where he criticised the state and reported fraudulent activities. He was consequently assaulted and beaten outside his home and, on 21 November, the newspaper was shut down. He started another newspaper, "La reforma" (Reform), in a symbolic gesture, young supporters of the progressive party declared him as their candidate for president. A bomb was then set off outside his house, though Huidobro escaped unharmed. While in Chile, he wrote for the publications "Andamios", "Panorama" and "Ariel" and published "Automne Régulier" (Regular Autumn) and "Tout à coup" (Suddenly). In 1926, he published a fragment of what would become the fourth canto of " Altazor" in "Panorama". In 1927, he traveled to New York, where he met

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

and

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

, wrote a script for a film of his novel "Cagliostro", and wrote the "Canto a Lindbergh" (Song for Lindbergh) dedicated to aviator

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

. He returned to Europe by the late 1920s, where he began to write the novel, ''Mío Cid Campeador''; he also continued his work on ''Altazor'' and began ''Temblor de Cielo'' (Tremor of Heaven). It was at this time that he discovered that he was heir to the Marquisate of Casa Real. He also participated in the Mandrágora, a Chilean surrealist movement founded in 1938. There was a scandal when he married Ximena Amunátegui in a Muslim ceremony. In 1930, while in the Italian

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, he wrote "La Proxima" (The Next), and published his poem "Chanson de l'oeuf et de l'infini" (Song of the Egg and Infinity) in the magazine "Revue Européenne" and a fragment of "Altazor", in French, in the June edition of "Transition". In 1931, he went back to Madrid to publish "Altazor", where he attended

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 ...

's poetry recital "Poet in New York" and started his friendship with Uruguayan painter

Joaquín Torres García Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956) (Joaquín Alonso González), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981) (Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez) ...

. The same year he published "Portrait of a Paladin" and the English versions of his "Mío Cid Campeador", "Temblor de Cielo" and " Altazor".

Back to Chile

Huidobro went back to Chile in 1932, under the pressure of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. In Chile, he published "Gilles de Raíz". In 1933, he got involved with the

Communist Party of Chile The Communist Party of Chile (, ) is a communist party in Chile. It was founded in 1912 as the Socialist Workers' Party () and adopted its current name in 1922. The party established a youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile (, JJ.CC), in 1932. ...

and published his article "Manifiesto a la juventud de Hispanoamérica" (Manifesto to the Youth of Hispano America) in Barcelona's "Europa" magazine, where he proposed the creation of a united republic formed of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. In 1934 he wrote film reviews for

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

magazines and newspapers, and published "La Próxima" (The Next) (Santiago, Walton); "Papá o el diario de Alicia Mir" (Father, or the diary of Alicia Mir) (Santiago, Walton), a novel written as a diary; and the play "En la Luna" (In the Moon) (Santiago, Ercilla). He founded the magazine Vital/Ombligo with Omar Cáceres and

Eduardo Anguita Eduardo Anguita Cuéllar (Yerbas Buenas, Linares Province, Linares November 1914 - Santiago de Chile August 12, 1992) was a Chilean poet, who was awarded the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1988. Life Eduardo Anguita was raised in Sa ...

. In 1935 a young

Volodia Teitelboim Volodia Teitelboim. Volodia Teitelboim Volosky (originally ''Valentín Teitelboim Volosky''; March 17, 1916 – January 31, 2008) was a Chilean Communist politician, lawyer, and author. Personal life Born in Chillán to Jewish immigrants, Moisé ...

read a

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

poem, similar to Poem 16 of Neruda's ''

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair ''Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair'' () is a poetry collection by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Published in June 1924, the book launched Neruda to fame at the young age of 19 and is one of the most renowned literary works of the 20th cen ...

'', Teitelboim mentioned this to Huidobro, and Huidobro accused Neruda of plagiarism. This would initiate a conflict between Neruda and Huidobro that later would involve

. In 1936, along with

, Arp,

Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

, and Robert and

among others, he signed the " Dimensionist Manifesto" In 1937, while in Spain supporting the republican cause, the conflict with Neruda resurfaced while Neruda was also supporting the republicans. The Parisian "Association Internationale des Ecrivains pour la Défense de la Culture", sending them a letter which called on them to change their attitude, signed by

Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French ...

César Vallejo César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza (March 16, 1892 – April 15, 1938) was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators ...

and Juan Larrea, among others. Once back in Chile, he published the

prose poem Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it make ...

"Fuera de aquí" (Out of Here), arguing against Italian

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

and the Italian military (who were visiting Chile at that time), as well as the poem "Gloria y Sangre" (Glory and Blood) in "Madre España: Homenaje de los poetas chilenos" (Mother Spain: Tribute of the Chilean poets). In 1938 his mother died, and he became part of the creation of the Chilean

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 ...

group

La Mandrágora ''La Mandrágora'' (Spanish for ''The Mandrake'') was a Chilean Surrealist group "officially founded" on 12 July 1938 by Braulio Arenas (1913-1988), Teófilo Cid and Enrique Gómez Correa.Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. In 1944, he edited and published the first and last edition of "Actual", the final magazine he would create. In November of that year he traveled back to Europe and made a stop in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

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 ...

to give a lecture on "Introducción a la poesía" (Introduction to Poetry). In 1945 he went to Paris as a correspondent for “La Voz de América". In Paris, he received a letter from his wife Ximena informing him of her wish for a divorce. He entered

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(as a war correspondent) with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. He was discharged and went back to Santiago with his third wife, Raquel Señoret. In 1946 he settled in Cartagena, a seaside town in central Chile, and published a new edition of "Trois Nouvelles Exemplaires", with text written in collaboration with

Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (; ; 16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born Hans Peter Wilhelm Ar ...

. The following year he suffered a stroke attributed to his war wounds, and died on 2 January 1948, in his Cartagena house. According to his wishes, he was buried on a hill facing the sea. His eldest daughter Manuela and

wrote the epitaph: "Aquí yace el poeta Vicente Huidobro / Abrid la tumba / Al fondo de esta tumba se ve el mar". (Here lies the poet Vicente Huidobro / Open the tomb / At the bottom you can see the sea). That same year, Manuela published unedited texts and poems previously seen only in magazines. Huidobro wrote over thirty works, including books of poetry and poetic narrative, of which more than a dozen were published posthumously.

Vicente Huidobro Museum and Foundation

The Vicente Huidobro Foundation was created in 1990, in order to preserve the poet's works. The foundation runs a research center and archive, which is open to researchers, students and general public. On 6 April 2013 Huidobro's house in Cartagena was converted into a museum, with help of funds from

FONDART FONDART or “Fondo Nacional para el Desarrollo Cultural y las Artes” (English: “National Fund for the Development of Culture and the Arts”), is a Chilean public program of the governmental agency Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes ...

. The museum, which has six rooms and a floor space of 320 square metres, will be run by the Vicente Huidobro Foundation, and will showcase manuscripts, correspondence, first editions of Huidobro's works, photographs and his collection of African art, among other items.

Tribute

On January 10, 2020,

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

celebrated his 127th birthday with a

Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...

. The Spanglish novel

Yo-Yo Boing! ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) is a postmodern novel in English, Spanish, and Spanglish by Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. The cross-genre work is a structural hybrid of poetry, political philosophy, musical, manifesto, treatise, memoir, and dr ...

(1998) by Puerto Rican poet

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include '' Empire of Dreams'' (1988), '' Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998), '' United States of Banana'' (2011), and '' Putinoika'' (2024). ...

features a debate about creators and masters of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

Latin American poetry Latin American poetry is the poetry written by Latin American authors. Latin American poetry is often written in Spanish, but is also composed in Portuguese, Mapuche, Nahuatl, Quechua, Mazatec, Zapotec, Ladino, English, and Spanglish. The unifi ...

, including Huidobro,

Luis Cernuda Luis Cernuda Bidón (September 21, 1902 – November 5, 1963) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. During the Spanish Civil War, in early 1938, he went to the UK to deliver some lectures and this became the start of an exile ...

, Alberti,

Vicente Aleixandre Vicente Pío Marcelino Cirilo Aleixandre y Merlo (; 26 April 1898 – 14 December 1984) was a Spanish poet who was born in Seville. Aleixandre received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1977 "for a creative poetic writing which illuminates man ...

Pedro Salinas Pedro Salinas y Serrano (27 November 1891 – 4 December 1951) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27, as well as a university teacher, scholar and literary critic. In 1937, he delivered the Turnbull lectures at Johns Hopkins ...

, and

Jorge Guillén Jorge Guillén Álvarez (; 18 January 18936 February 1984) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27, a university teacher, a scholar and a literary critic. In 1957-1958, he delivered the Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard U ...

. Chile printed several postage stamps of portraits of Huidobro, including in 1986 and 1993.

Bibliography

; Poetry books"Vicente Huidobro Biographie"
Green Integer. 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2015. * Ecos del alma (Santiago: Imprenta Chide, 1911) * Canciones en la noche (Santiago: Imprenta Chile, 1913) * La gruta de silencio (Santiago: Imprenta Chile, 1913) * Las pagodas ocultas (Santiago: Imprenta Universitaría, 1914) * Adán (Santiago: Imprenta Universitaría, 1916) * El espejo de agua (Buenos Aires: Editorial Orión, 1916) * Horizon Carré (Paris: Editions Paul Birault, 1917) * Tour Eiffel (Madrid: Imprenta Pueyo, 1918) * Hallali (Madrid: Ediciones Jesús López, 1918) * Ecuatorial (Madrid: Imprenta Pueyo, 1918) * Poemas articos (Madrid: Imprenta Pueyo, 1918) * Saisons choisies (Paris: Editions Le Cible, 1921) * Automne régulier (Paris: Editions Librairie de France, 1925) * Tout a Coup (Paris: Editions Au Sans Pareil, 1925) * Altazor: el viaje en paracaídas (Madrid: Campañía Iberoamericana de Publications, 1931) * Temblor de Cielo (Madrid: Editorial Plutarco, 1931) * Ver y palpar (Santiago: Ediciones Ercilla, 1941) * El ciudadano del Olvido (Santiago: Ediciones Ercilla, 1941) * Antología de Vicente Huidobro (Santiago: Editorial Zig-Zag, 1945) * Ultimos Poemas (Santiago: Talleres Gráficos Ahués Hnos, 1948) * Poesías, edited with a prologue by Enrique Lihn (Havana: Casa de las Américas, 1968) * Obras Completas de Vicente Huidobro (Santiago: Editorial Zig-Zag, 1964) * Obras Completas de Vicente Huidobro (Santiago: Editorial Andres Bello, 1976) ; English language translations * The Relativity of Spring: 13 poems translated from the French, translated by Michael Palmer and Geoffrey Young (Berkeley, California: Sand Dollar, 1976) * The Selected Poetry of Vicente Huidobro, edited by David Guss (New York: New Directions, 1981) * Altazor, translated by Eliot Weinberger (Saint Paul, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1988) * The Poet Is a Little God: Creationist Verse, translated by Jorge García-Gómez (Riverside, California: Xenos Books, 1990)

References

Sources

* Perdigó, Luisa Marina (1994). ''The Origins of Vicente Huidobro's 'Creacionismo' (1911–1916) and its Evolution (1917–1947)''. New York: Mellen Press.

External links

* Finding aid for the Vicente Huidobro papers at the Getty Research Institute, contains a listing of materials and biographical information. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Huidobro, Vicente 1893 births 1948 deaths University of Chile alumni Chilean male poets Dada Candidates for President of Chile Writers from Santiago, Chile 20th-century Chilean poets 20th-century Chilean male writers