Florida, March 23.- It has been 210 years since the poetess, playwright, journalist and literary critic, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Arteaga, was born in Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe, today Camagüey, a woman whose life and work filled with pride her native land and all of Cuba.
Known as Tula, La Peregrina or La Avellaneda, whose literary merits are disputed by Cuba and Spain, it is linked to the evolution of Spanish romanticism, but also belongs to the history of the Literature of Latin America and, above all, of its country of birth. where she became a woman and began her intellectual production and to which she always felt linked, with feelings that she expressed in many of her poetic compositions.
Poetess of Latin American romanticism and precursor of modern feminism, for her vital attitude and the strength she gave to her female characters, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda was a Cuban who, marked by the pain, sorrows and disappointments caused by her personal mistakes, and prejudices and repressions characteristic of the time, he had will, character and fortitude.
He wrote poetry, narrative and theater and stood out in all three genres, and incorporated into his works the Caribbean environment, felt in Europe as exotic: in Sab, the first anti-slavery novel of Spanish literature, he showed his social commitment by condemning slavery and its aftermath; and her entire work is marked by nationalist and freedom feelings, she makes philosophical introspection, touches on the personal and the public, and addresses the themes of Cuba and love.
Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda was a woman ahead of her time, brave and transgressive; “Boldly great” was defined by José Martí, who described her verse as “rough and energetic” and valued her, along with Luisa Pérez de Zambrana, as one of the best Cuban poets of all time.
