Born: March 8, 1895, Melo, Uruguay
Died: July 1979, Montevideo
Juana de Ibarbourou was a Uruguayan poet who achieved great popularity throughout the Spanish-speaking world through her early collections of simple poems with easy rhythms, celebrating love and Nature. Her success in her native country and abroad prompted the Uruguayan government to take the unprecedented step of awarding her the title Juana de América in 1929.
Ibarbourou was born Juanita Fernándey Morales in Melo and was educated at a convent school. Her first two collections of poems, Las lenguas de diamante (Tongues of Diamond, 1919) and El cántaro fresco (The Fresh Pitcher, 1920) established her popularity. She subsequently wrote more than 30 books, the great majority collections of verse, but also a collection of memoirs entitled Chico Carlo (1944). While Ibarbourou’s early works were marked by exuberant sensuality, later collections such as Estampas de la Biblia (Images from the Bible, 1935) and Perdida (Lost, 1950) show a greater maturity and reflectiveness. Oro y tormenta (Gold and Storm, 1956) addresses the pain of old age and illness. Ibarbourou became president of the Uruguayan Society of Authors in 1950.
