Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera, born on December 22, 1859, in Mexico City, was a pioneering journalist and writer who significantly influenced Latin American literature. He was the first Mexican writer to earn a living solely from journalism, beginning his career at the age of sixteen with the publication of a sonnet in *El Porvenir*. Gutiérrez Nájera is credited with developing the crónica, a literary sketch that blended journalism with literary elements, and he published around 1,500 of these works. His only book published during his lifetime, *Cuentos frágiles*, released in 1883, focused on emotion and psychology rather than traditional narrative structures. Married to Cecilia Maillefert, he was also a key figure in the Modernismo movement, which emphasized artistic expression and was influenced by French literature. In 1894, he co-founded *La Revista Azul*, which promoted the movement. Gutiérrez Nájera passed away on February 3, 1895, just before he could take office as president of the Associated Press of Mexico, leaving behind a legacy that positioned him as a precursor to modern Spanish American literature. His contributions continue to resonate in the literary landscape of Latin America.
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Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera
Writer
- Born: December 22, 1859
- Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
- Died: February 3, 1895
Biography
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera was born on December 22, 1859, in Mexico City, Mexico. His mother, Delores Nájera, was a devout Catholic; his father, Manuel Gutiérrez, was a journalist, the editor of a newspaper, and a member of Academia de Munguia, a literary group. From 1863 to 1865, his family lived in Querétaro, where his father served as prefect for Emperor Maximilian. Because of religious reasons, Gutiérrez Nájera received no formal education, although he taught himself to read and later studied with private tutors. His mother encouraged him to read the Spanish mystics, and he also read a wide selection of French and Spanish literature.
Gutiérrez Nájera was the first writer in Mexico to fully earn his living as a journalist. His career as a journalist began in 1875, when he was sixteen, with the publication of a sonnet in the newspaper El Porvenir. Writing for more than forty magazines and newspapers, often under pseudonyms, he adapted the French cronique, creating a new journalistic form called the crónica, or literary sketch. He published about 1500 of these crónicas. In 1883, his collection of short stories, Cuentos frágiles, was published, the only book to be published during his lifetime. His stories focused on emotion and psychology rather than plot and often developed from a published crónica.
Gutiérrez Nájera’s most often used pseudonym was El Duque Job (The Duke of Job), which came from the poem, “La Duquesa Job,” a love poem written in 1884 to a woman he was romantically interested in. In 1886, he published the poem, “A Cecilia,” a love poem written to Cecilia Maillefert. The poem was successful; he and Maillefert married in 1888 and had two daughters, Cecilia, and Margarita.
In 1894, Gutiérrez Nájera and Carlos Díaz Dufóo founded a magazine, La Revista Azul, which promoted the Modernismo movement, the first literary movement to originate in Latin America. Modernismo, influenced by French literature, valued art for art’s sake, the exotic, and the symbolic use of color. Though elected president of the Associated Press of Mexico, Gutiérrez Nájera died on February 3, 1895, before he could assume office. His first collection of poetry, Obras de Manuel Gutíerrez Nájera: Poesia, was published posthumously in 1896.
A prolific writer, Gutiérrez Nájera, who never traveled outside of Mexico, is recognized for infusing Latin American literature with French influences. As a leader in the Modernismo movement, he served as a precursor to modern Spanish American literature.