Ricardo Miró
Ricardo Miró is celebrated as the national poet of Panama, born in Panama City during a time when the region was still part of Colombia. The son of Spanish and French immigrants, Miró experienced early hardships following his father's death, which influenced his artistic journey. He initially pursued painting but shifted to poetry influenced by modernist writers after returning to Panama during the War of a Thousand Days. Miró published his first poems in 1904 and gained recognition with his collection "Preludios" in 1908, along with his iconic poem "Patria."
Throughout his life, Miró was deeply invested in the development of a national identity for Panama, exemplified by his book of patriotic verses for schools. He held several significant roles, including director of the National Archives and perpetual secretary of the Panamanian Academy of Language. Though he wrote multiple novels, none were published during his lifetime. Following his passing in 1940, his works were posthumously compiled by his son, Rodrigo. In recognition of his contributions to literature, the Ricardo Miró National Literature Award was established, underscoring his lasting legacy in Central American literature.
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Subject Terms
Ricardo Miró
Panamanian poet, novelist, and editor.
- Born: November 5, 1883
- Birthplace: Panama City, Colombia (now Panama)
- Died: March 2, 1940
- Place of death: Panama City, Panama
Biography
Ricardo Miró, the national poet of Panama, was born in Panama City when Panama was still a part of Colombia. El Poeta, or The Poet, as he was often called, was the child of Ricardo Miró and Mercedes Denis Miró, whose parents had emigrated from Spain and France, respectively. After his father died when he and his brother were quite young, the family suffered financial hardship. Miró began to study painting at the Colegio Menor del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, when he was just fifteen years old. However, the outbreak of the War of a Thousand Days, Panama’s war for independence from Colombia, interrupted his studies, and he returned to Panama in 1903. His meetings with modernist writers caused him to switch his focus from painting to writing, and in 1904 he published his first poems in the journal El Heraldo de Istmus.
After Panamanian independence, Miró worked in a variety of civil service jobs, but he remained committed to his writing. In 1906, he married Isabel Grimaldo Jaén, and the couple had a son, Rodrigo. The following year he founded a journal, Nueva Rítos, which he edited until 1917. Preludios, his first book of poetry, appeared to warm reviews in 1908, and he moved to Barcelona, Spain, soon thereafter, where he wrote “Patria,” the poem for which he is most remembered. While living in Barcelona, he served as chancellor of Panama in nearby Marseilles, France.
Upon returning to Panama, Miró’s first novel was serialized in El Díarío de Panamá; although he wrote other novels, none were published in book form during his lifetime. He published two more volumes of poetry by 1919, when he was named director of the National Archives. An unabashed nationalist devoted to creating a national identity for Panama, he composed Versos patrióticos y recitaciones escolares para uso de las escuelas de la República de Panamá (1925), a book of patriotic verse to be used in Panamanian public schools. In 1926, he was appointed the perpetual secretary of the Panamanian Academy of Language, a branch of the Royal Academy of Spanish Language in Madrid, Spain.
Miró published two more volumes of poetry in 1929. He was preparing to travel to Spain to arrange for the publication of his complete works when he died in Panama City in 1940. Miró’s son, Rodrigo, edited and published a complete collection of his father’s poems in 1973; a three-volume set of Miró’s complete works was published in 1984. The Ricardo Miró National Literature Award was created in his honor, and it is the largest literary award program in Central America.
Author Works
Poetry:
Preludios, 1908
Los segundos preludios, 1916
La leyenda del Pacífico, 1919
Versos patrióticos y recitaciones escolares para uso de las escuelas de la República de Panamá, 1925
El poema de la reencarnación, 1929
Caminos silenciosos, 1929
Antología poética, 1907-1937, 1937
Obra Literaria de Ricardo Miró: Centenario del Natalicio, 1883-1983, ovela y Cuento, 1984 (2 volumes)
Obra Literaria de Ricardo Miró: Poesia, 1984
Bibliography
Anderson Imbert, Enrique. Spanish-American Literature: A History. 2nd ed., Wayne State UP, 1969. Briefly discusses Miró's life, work, and importance to Panamanian literature.
Smith, Verity, editor. Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. Briefly discusses Miró's work.