Josefina Plá
Josefina Plá, born María Josefina Teodora Plá Guerra Galvany in 1909 in the Canary Islands, was a distinguished Paraguayan poet, journalist, and ceramist. Demonstrating exceptional talent from a young age, she began writing poetry at just four years old and published her first work at thirteen. After marrying ceramist Andrés Campos Cervera, she moved to Paraguay, where she became a prominent figure in the literary scene and worked as a radio journalist. Plá was instrumental in transforming Paraguayan poetry, being a pivotal member of Grupo del '40, the country’s most influential literary movement. Throughout her life, she published numerous poetry anthologies, earning accolades such as the Paraguayan National Prize in Poetry and an honorary doctorate from the University of Asunción. Despite facing personal hardships, including the death of her husband and struggles as a single mother, Plá's literary contributions significantly shaped the cultural landscape of Paraguay. She continued to write and advocate for human rights until her death in 1999, leaving a lasting legacy in Paraguayan literature.
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Josefina Plá
Poet
- Born: November 9, 1909
- Birthplace: Isla Lobos, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain
- Died: January 11, 1999
- Place of death: Asunción, Paraguay
Biography
Josefina Plá was the more manageable pen name of María Josefina Teodora Plá Guerra Galvany. The eldest of Leopoldo and Rafaela Guerra Galvani Plá’s seven children, she was born in 1909 in Isla Lobos, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. Her extraordinary intellect was apparent early. She wrote intelligibly at age four, and before she was seven she was writing poetry. She wrote short stories at age ten and a drama at age twelve.
When she published her first poetry anonymously in a journal in 1923, her father, not realizing that she was the author, praised her poems, thereby encouraging her greatly. In the same year, she published more poems under her own name in Donostia. Initially, her father discouraged her writing, but he soon recognized her ability and encouraged it.
Plá became an inveterate reader, often reading to her younger siblings. She had mastered several languages by her early teens and was greatly affected by the writing of Alexander Dumas, père and fils, Jules Verne, Voltaire, and Homer, whom she read in the original Greek, and by poets like Alfonsina Storni, Delmira Agustini, and Ida Talavera.
In 1924, while living in Spain, Plá met Andrés Campos Cervera, a noted ceramist twenty years her senior. In 1926, she married him by proxy after he had relocated in Paraguay, where she followed him in 1927. Having worked as a journalist in Spain, she became a correspondent for an Argentinean journal in Paraguay, where she also learned the art of ceramics, becoming so proficient that her output sold out quickly and yielded enough money for the couple to return to Europe in 1929 and remain for three years before returning to Paraguay.
The Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay erupted shortly after their return, but Plá continued to write poetry, and in 1934 she published her first collection. In that year, she and her husband returned to Spain. They planned to return to Paraguay in 1936 but could not because of the Spanish Civil War.
In 1937, still in Spain, Campos Cervera died unexpectedly, leaving Plá practically destitute. She sold her possessions to raise money for passage back to Paraguay. In 1940, she gave birth to her only child, Ariel, by an unidentified father. She also adopted and raised a daughter.
Plá became increasingly involved in writing but also continued her work as a radio journalist. Her greatest contribution was in changing the form of Paraguayan poetry. She was a member of Grupo del ‘40, the most influential literary group in Paraguay.
As Plá aged, she continued to write, publishing several poetry anthologies between 1982 and 1985. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Asunción in 1981. In 1983, she won the Paraguayan National Prize in Poetry, and in 1994 she was appointed to the International Society of Jurists for her work in human rights. She left a greater mark on Paraguayan writing than any previous writer.