Jose Joaquin Ortiz (1814-1892) was a Colombian writer, journalist, poet, and educator. He stood out for being one of the maximum representatives of the romanticism of the old New Granada in the 19th century. His literary work was closely linked with love and respect for the homeland behind the post-revolutionary national sentiment..
Ortiz's writings were characterized by the use of a cultured and expressive language, loaded with feelings and emotions. With his works he sought to highlight the identity and values of the country. This Colombian intellectual went down in history as "The singer of the national glories", due to the content and beauty of his verses.
Some of the most important titles of the writer were: My hours of rest, Motherless Y Poetry. Regarding his journalistic work, Ortiz participated in the creation of several newspapers, among them The charity. As a teacher, he made didactic and easily understood texts for the training of primary and secondary students.
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José Joaquín Ortiz Rojas was born on July 10, 1814 in the city of Tunja in Boyacá, where he came from a cultured and traditional family. His parents were José Joaquín Ortiz Nagle and Isabel Rojas. His childhood was marked by the persecution of patriots, including his father (hero of independence), who was imprisoned by the royalist army..
The first years of Ortiz's education were spent in his hometown and from an early age he manifested his talent for literature, especially poetry. He grew up listening and reading about the exploits of Simón Bolívar, for whom he felt admiration and respect..
After the independence war, José Joaquín went to Bogotá to study at the Colegio del Rosario (later the Universidad del Rosario). There he learned about politics, humanities and law. Around that time the writer read Virgilio and European poets such as Tasso and Manuel Quintana, and made the decision to dedicate himself to journalism.
José Joaquín Ortiz started journalism when he was only twenty years old. At that time he participated in the creation of important newspapers, including El Porvenir, El Conservador, El Correo de los Andes Y The Catholicism. At that same time he published his first poetic work My hours of rest (1834).
Ortiz's performance as a journalist and his talent for poetry gave him rapid consolidation within the literary and cultural sphere of his country. This is how in 1835 he created the printed medium The National Star, which became the first Colombian newspaper dedicated to the exhibition of texts about the homeland and its idiosyncrasy.
Along with his work as a journalist, he developed his career as a writer and poet. In 1848 he unveiled the work Motherless and that same year he participated in the founding of the newspaper Future.
In a short time he created Charity, a printed medium that had more than two decades in circulation and that was later known as Village Mail.
Just as Ortiz was concerned about leaving a poetic and journalistic legacy for the homeland, he also showed a broad interest in education. In the mid-nineteenth century he directed the Colegio de Boyacá in the city of Tunja and in 1852 established the Institute of Christ, focused on teaching Christian and human values for a better life..
His work in educational matters extended to the production of pedagogical and learning books to facilitate training processes in schools, and stood out among them as The Colombian reader.
The writer encouraged the development of a teaching based on patriotic and Christian values, also advocated the preservation of the traditional.
The intellectual spent his last years of life focused on journalism, writing and politics. During his time in the National Congress, he expressed his support for the church and education. His political disagreements were exposed in newspapers such as The Conservative Y The charity.
They are among his latest publications Maria Dolores Y Poetry. He lived accompanied by his wife Juliana Malo y Ortega, with whom he married in 1941. José Joaquín Ortiz died on February 14, 1892 in Bogotá at the age of seventy-seven..
The literary style of José Joaquín Ortiz was framed within the current of romanticism, which meant that he separated from the usual lyrical and classical norms. His work was characterized by the use of a simple and expressive language, emotional and full of feelings. His themes were the homeland and the defense of its values.
- My hours of rest (1834).
- Motherless (1848).
- Maria Dolores (1863).
- Poetry (1880).
- Sulma.
- The oidor of Santa Fe.
- Spanish literature lessons.
- "The Colombian flag." Poetry.
- "The colonists." Poetry.
- "Al Tequendama". Poetry.
- "To Tunja". Poetry.
- "Boyacá". Poetry.
- "Supreme night." Poetry.
- "Colón and Bolívar". Poetry.
“… Don't you hear any closer already? Joins the echoes
the noise of warrior music
that, on the wings of the unleashed winds,
fills the immense scope of the sphere.
But see further how it progresses
among a forest of glistening steels,
that reverberates from the sun to the rays.
Of the town between the wave,
to the blue sky upright and alone.
Of our country the immortal flag.
And go up to the Capitol, and the bugles
they release their high-pitched voice; thunder rumbles
of the canyon in the last reaches.
Oh! Hail to you, magnificent and sublime!
Anointed with the blood of the brave
killed in the fight.
Oh! Hail you! burned by fire
of the opposing hosts;
you, power, glory and the ideal homeland ... ".
"Hear I long for your majestic thunder,
Tremendous Tequendama! I longed to sit
on the shores of your terrifying abyss,
having a brown cloud canopy
the plume that rises from your forehead
What, like the dust of the burning lid,
in confused whirlwinds it rises ...
Here I am contemplating you longingly
suspense of your abyss;
my soul stunned, absorbed, confused,
with such a great impression you are still anxious ...
The man in you, capable more feels:
to bequeath his memory to the centuries,
to be a hero, a saint or a poet,
and draw from his lyre
a are so harmonious and so sublime
like the iris that shines on your forehead
like the echo of triumph that groans in you ".
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