José Santos Chocano
José Santos Chocano was a prominent Peruvian poet born in Lima in 1875, whose life was marked by intense political engagement, personal struggles, and artistic achievements. Growing up during the turbulent War of the Pacific, Chocano developed a keen interest in politics from a young age, which shaped both his life and his poetry. He began writing at the age of ten and eventually left his engineering studies to pursue a literary career, often using his work to protest against oppressive political regimes.
Chocano's life was characterized by dramatic events, including multiple arrests and narrow escapes from execution. He was married three times and fathered several children while engaging in diplomatic missions and literary endeavors. His poetry gained significant acclaim, leading to a celebrated reception in Peru where he was named poet laureate in 1921. However, his later years were marred by legal troubles, including a conviction for manslaughter, which was later overturned during a general amnesty. Chocano's life ended tragically in 1934 when he was murdered in Santiago. His remains were later returned to Peru and interred according to his unique wish to be buried standing up.
On this Page
Subject Terms
José Santos Chocano
Poet
- Born: May 15, 1875
- Birthplace: Lima, Peru
- Died: December 13, 1934
- Place of death: Santiago, Chile
Biography
A life as adventurous as that of Peruvian poet José Santos Chocano defies the strictures of short biography, but it may be useful to observe how deeply he was a man of his time and his place. The story of Chocano’s life is replete with intrigue, changes in fortune, and violence, and it provides insight into the region’s political turmoil and Chocano’s intimate involvement with it.
Chocano was born in Lima in 1875. His parents were of distinguished ancestry, but his life, and that of his elder sister, were were difficult, in part due to the alcoholism of their stern, military father. The boy’s lifelong, intense interest in politics began early: He was four when the Chilean troops occupied Lima, beginning the War of the Pacific. He remembered his childhood, saying: “How could I scamper joyously through the fields when I might step into a pool of blood? How could I sing if my voice was to be drowned out by the metallic thunder of the cannon and the whistling of bullets?”
He began writing poetry by the age of ten. His mother encouraged him to pursue a career in engineering, but he briefly enrolled in the Faculty of Letters at the University of San Marcos. Impatient with the oppressive atmosphere of the university and eager to protest the dictatorial government, he abandoned his studies and began publishing rebellious verses. Arrested, he was slated for execution, and was even led near the sea to be shot. Saved by the intervention of a prison guard who admired his poetry, Chocano narrowly escaped the bullet. He was nineteen years old when a change in government led to his prison release.
Chocano’s adult life was filled with activity that was breathtaking in its scope and intensity. He was married three times: to Consuelo Bermúdez, with whom he had two sons; to Margot Batres Jáuregui, with whom he had a son and a daughter; and to Margarita Aguilar Machado, with whom he had one son. Besides writing plays, founding a newspaper and literary journals, and—always—writing poetry, he became involved in several diplomatic missions, during which he befriended Guatamelan dictator Manuel Estrada Cabera, traveled extensively, and was again imprisoned and sentenced to death, this time in Guatemala. At one point during a period in Mexico, an aide to the revolutionary Pancho Villa broke in with some important news while Chocano was reciting his poetry. Villa drew his pistol and shot at the man, who was, luckily, not injured, saying, “When the poet Chocano recites, no one interrupts him.”
A triumphant reception in Peru following his reprieve in 1921 culminated in his “coronation” as poet laureate. But his later years were marred by his trial for having shot and killed a man with whom he had an ideological dispute. Found guilty, he was freed from a lengthy prison sentence because of a general amnesty. He died in 1934, in Santiago, stabbed to death by a deranged man on a streetcar. Reinterred in Peru in 1965, he was buried, according to his wishes, standing up.