Dulce María Loynaz
Dulce María Loynaz was a prominent Cuban poet and novelist, born on December 10, 1902, in Havana. As the eldest child in a well-to-do family, she was exposed to poetry, art, and literature from a young age, leading to her early forays into writing, including her first poetry publication at just sixteen. Loynaz graduated from the University of Havana's law school in 1927 and practiced law while continuing to cultivate her literary career. Throughout her life, she traveled extensively and experienced personal challenges, such as her struggles with infertility, which influenced her work.
In 1938, she published her notable volume "Canto a la mujer estéril," and later created a range of poetry and prose, including the celebrated novel "Jardin: Novela lírica." Despite the political upheaval during the Cuban Revolution, Loynaz remained a critical literary figure, receiving numerous accolades including the Cervantes Prize. Her literary contributions continued until her death on April 27, 1997, after which several of her works were published posthumously. Loynaz’s poetry gained wider recognition with English translations released years after her passing, solidifying her legacy as a significant voice in Latin American literature.
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Subject Terms
Dulce María Loynaz
Writer
- Born: December 10, 1902
- Birthplace: Havana, Cuba
- Died: April 27, 1997
- Place of death: Havana, Cuba
Biography
Although English translations of her poetry did not appear until the decade of her death, Dulce María Loynaz remains highly revered in her native Cuba. Born on December 10, 1902, in Havana, Loynaz was the eldest of four children of María de las Mercedes Muñoz Sañudo and General Enrique Loynaz del Castillo, an officer in the Cuban army during the Spanish American War. Well-to-do, the Loynaz family hired tutors to educate their children, and all of them were raised with a love for poetry, art, music, and drama. As a young girl, Loynaz translated the works of Jean Racine and Pierre Corneille into Spanish; her first poetry publication came in 1919 when she was sixteen years old, in the Cuban newspaper La Nación.
Graduating from the University of Havana’s law school in 1927, Loynaz practiced law for several years. She continued to write poetry throughout this time, and many of her books published years later were actually written in the 1920’s. She traveled widely, through Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and South America, and married a cousin, Enrique de Quesada y Loynaz, divorcing him six years later. After winning the Alejo Carpentier Medal in 1933, her inability to have children led to her first published volume, Canto a la mujer estéril (song to the sterile woman, 1938), followed quickly by Versos, 1920-1938 (1938).
In 1946, Loynaz married Pablo Álvarez de Cañaz, a Spanish journalist, and moved to the Canary Islands. Juegos de agua: Versos del agua y del amor (water games: verses of water and of love, 1947; translated as Waterplay, 1997), her second volume, was dedicated to her new husband. Loynaz in 1947 was inducted into the Cuban National Order of Merit Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and received the Grand Cross of Alfonso X the Wise, confirming her status as a major poetic voice. She wrote a popular novel (Jardin: Novela lírica, 1951), which was later staged by the Cuban National Ballet, and in 1953 published three more books, including Poemas sin nombre (translated in 1993 as Poems Without Name). Loynaz was elected president of the Cuban Academy of Language in 1952, a position she held throughout most of her life, and her poetry was collected in 1955 as Obra lírica.
With the coming of the Cuban Revolution, Loynaz increasingly retired into her home and ceased publishing for a time, remaining separate from the political turmoil. In 1962, her husband left Cuba for Spain, returning in 1972 and dying in 1974. However, despite her semi-retirement, Loynaz published her Poesías escogidas (selected poems) in 1984 and won the Cuban National Literature Prize in 1987. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate in 1987, from the University of Havana. Bestiarium, a collection written in the 1920’s, and La novia de Lázaro (Lazaro’s bride) were both published in 1991, as was Poemas náufragos (shipwrecked poems). She won two major Spanish awards during this time, the Isabel la Católica Prize in 1991 and the Cervantes Prize in 1992.
Loynaz died in her home on April 27, 1997, leaving two unpublished novels and several unpublished poems. One collection, Diez sonetos a Cristo (ten sonnets to Christ), was published posthumously in 1998. An English translation, A Woman in Her Garden: Selected Poems of Dulce María Loynaz, was published in 2001.