Lola Rodríguez de Tió

Puerto Rican-born poet and activist

• Born: September 14, 1843
• Birthplace: San Germán, Puerto Rico
• Died: November 10, 1924
• Place of death: Havana, Cuba

Rodríguez de Tió, a revered figure in Cuban and Puerto Rican history, was a nineteenth-century lyric poet who fought for the independence of both countries. As a member of the ruling elite, her work on behalf of opportunities for women made her one of Latin America’s most influential early feminists.

Early Life

Lola Rodríguez de Tió (TEE-oh) was born Dolores Rodríguez de Astudillo y Ponce de León in San Germán, into a family belonging to Puerto Rico’s ruling class. Her father was Don Sebastian Rodríguez de Astudillo, one of the founders of the Puerto Rican Bar Association and holder of a magisterial deanship; her mother was Doña Carmen Ponce de León, a descendant of Ponce de León, the famous explorer and first colonial governor. Rodríguez de Tió attended religious schools and studied with private tutors in her home, often present for the nearby gatherings of the assorted intellectuals and politicians meeting with her father. Her well-educated mother managed the child’s education, and though it was rare at the time for a woman to be an intellectual, Rodríguez de Tío, as a comfortable member of Puerto Rico’s ruling elite, also found support and encouragement in her literary endeavors from the poet Ursula Cardona de Quinones.

Bonacio Tío Segarra, journalist and also a poet, married Rodríguez de Tío when she was twenty. Sources suggest that the two had a modern relationship as partners in life and politics, and politically the couple worked against the corruption and brutality in Puerto Rico under Spain’s colonial government. Tío Segarra recognized and supported Rodríguez de Tío’s gift for lyricism and wrote the preface to her first published poetry collection. As advocates of radical nationalist beliefs, the two together experienced harassment and tribulation once the Spanish authorities became aware of their work.

Life’s Work

Rodríguez de Tío published her first book of poetry, Mis cantares, in 1876. The book sold 2,500 copies. Prior to that, the fiery lyric piece “La Borinquena,” composed for a traditional melody, established Rodríguez de Tío’s reputation and caused her to be deported after she read it out loud at a literary gathering in her own home. The song’s development as the national anthem happened gradually from its original form as a song of romantic love, into the resulting chant to liberty and a symbol of patriotism.

Because of their rebellious stance against tyranny, Rodríguez de Tío and her husband were forced to live in exile at various times over the years, first in Venezuela, then Cuba, then New York City. Wherever they went, they worked for Puerto Rican and also Cuban independence and formed alliances with the artistic and intellectual communities in each city. In Venezuela, for example, they met Eugenio María de Hostos, a brilliant patriot who became an important influence on Rodríguez de Tío. While in New York City, Rodríguez de Tío began intense political contact with José Martí and other Cuban political exiles, creating the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1895. Rodríguez de Tío served in the leadership of the clubs Rius Rivera in 1896 and Caridad in 1897. When she returned to Cuba in 1899, she spent the rest of her life working for social justice and the improvement of the situation of Cuban women.

Rodríguez de Tío published three books: Mis cantares (My Songs) in 1876, Claros y nieblas (Bright Intervals and Mist) in 1885, and Mi libro de Cuba (My Book on Cuba) in 1893. Some sources have recounted that Fidel Castro quoted from one of her well-known poems, “Cuba and Puerto Rico,” in a 1966 speech, but that he attributed the poem to Martí. Still, Rodríguez de Tío’s poetry expresses her affection for both Puerto Rico and her adopted homeland. She died on November 10, 1924, in Havana, Cuba, at the age of eighty-one.

Significance

Considered a leading literary figure and a national hero, Rodríguez de Tío was named to the Cuban Academy of Arts and Letters in 1910 and Patron of the Galician Beneficent Society in 1911. She has been called Puerto Rico’s most distinguished nineteenth-century lyric poet, and as the most prominent female Puerto Rican Romantic poet she certainly stands tall. However, Rodríguez de Tío’s activism and political engagement truly set her apart from other patriots of her generation. With her stalwart dedication to Romanticism in tandem with her fierce militancy, Rodríguez de Tío embodied the tension between the legacy of Spain’s Golden Age and Spanish authoritarian colonialism.

Bibliography

Babin, Maria Teresa, and Stan Steiner, eds. Borinquen: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Literature. New York: Knopf, 1974. Discusses the process and impact of Rodríguez de Tió’s “Song of Borinquen” and its relationship to the national anthem of Puerto Rico.

Rodríguez de Tió, Lola. Mis cantares. Reprint. Alexandria, Va.: Alexander Street Press, 2005. An example of poetry originally published in the 1880’s but recently more available as new editions of her work have been produced in electronic format and print-on-demand.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Obras completas. 4 vols. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena, 1968-1971. Difficult to find but forms the cornerstone of understanding Rodríguez de Tió’s artistry.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Poesías patrióticas, poesías religiosa; Cantares, nieblas y congojas; and Mi libro de Cuba. Barcelona: Ediciones Rumbos, 1967, 1968. Originally published in the 1800’s, these are examples of work republished in Spain during the 1960’s.

Ruiz, Vicki, and Virginia Sanchez Korrol. Latina Legacies: Identity, Biography, and Community. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Includes an entire chapter on Rodríguez de Tió and the struggle for freedom in Puerto Rico.