Luis Vargas Tejada (1802 - 1829) was a Colombian poet, playwright and politician who remained in the fight - along with Francisco de Paula Santander - against the dictatorship of the liberator Simón Bolívar, even reflecting in one of his works entitled Cato of Utica.
Furthermore, he is known for his famous dramaturgy titled Seizures, which has been taken to the stage countless times not only in Colombia, but in the rest of the world. It is a work that has endured over time due to its ability to move viewers.
On the other hand, he participated in the independence political feat of the Viceroyalty of New Granada for the unification of Gran Colombia, in addition to participating in the Ocaña Convention and in the so-called “septembrina conspiracy” with the intention of killing Simón Bolívar; plan that failed and forced him to flee.
His poetry was characterized by a tendency towards neoclassicism and romanticism, although more towards the romantic side, despite the situation he experienced. In addition, he is recognized for being the first to start the Colombian comic theater, opening the doors for the influence of other artists..
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Luis Vargas Tejada was born on November 27, 1802, although the exact place where his mother gave birth is not known. Some historians claim that he was born in Bogotá, others in Santafé. He was the son of Juan David Vargas and María Luisa de Tejada.
He was born to a humble family, but with a high knowledge of letters. From a young age, he began to feel an interest in writing, so his aunt gave him the first teachings shortly after starting the independence movements in 1810.
However, the young Luis Vargas Tejada continued in a self-taught way and with the help of some friends he learned other disciplines such as classical and modern languages: English, French, German, Italian, Latin, among others..
At an early age he began to develop his taste for poetry, making his first works in different languages; was characterized by performing rhymes with great ease.
While working in literature and the dramatic arts, he began to get involved in Colombian politics of the time despite having no academic or political training..
At first he began as the private secretary of the Colombian military Francisco de Paula Santander and when he was only 19 years old, he was given the position of secretary of the Senate.
In 1828, together with a group of deputies who were with Santander, he traveled to the Convention of Ocaña with the aim of reforming the constitution of Gran Colombia of 1821. It was Vargas Tejada who began the speech of the convention with one of his verses.
The interest of the Ocaña Convention was to debate and resolve the differences between the nations of Greater Colombia. However, it ended in a confrontation of ideas between the supporters of the Venezuelan military Simón Bolívar -president of Gran Colombia- and Francisco de Paula Santander.
Upon returning from the convention, the work entitled Historical memories, in which Vargas Tejada recounted, according to his point of view, the entire meeting in Ocaña. Subsequently, he was appointed plenipotentiary minister of the United States.
Vargas Tejada, being on the side of Santander and since the incident at the Ocaña Convention, began to frown upon President Bolívar, seeing him as a militaristic and dictatorial personality..
In fact, in the monologue Cato of Utica, had quietly criticized the dictatorial tendencies of Bolívar, whom he had previously admired as a warrior in his work entitled Memories of Boyacá.
From that moment, Vargas Tejada declared his enmity with the Venezuelan military, remaining faithful to Santander.
On August 27, 1828, Simón Bolívar -through the Organic Decree- abolished the constitution and eliminated the vice-presidency that at that time was under the command of Francisco de Paula Santander. Through the decree, Bolívar had to rule with a constitutional character until 1830.
Since that date, Bolívar had declared and assumed the dictatorship to provisionally govern Gran Colombia. However, Bolívar's decision caused a group of young people to form a board, made up of a group of politicians opposed to Bolívar, including Luis Vargas Tejada..
The group of young people, mostly intellectuals and politicians, met to put a stop to the dictatorship imposed by Bolívar. In one of those meetings, Luis Vargas Tejada delivered his famous stanza that is remembered to this day.
The stanza was referred directly to Bolívar and reflects the determination on the part of the group to confront the dictator.
The youth group had considered the idea of killing the president, so they began to recruit soldiers. Luis Vargas Tejada had been one of those who put together the plan against Simón Bolívar.
On the night of September 25, a group of civilians and soldiers - commanded by the Venezuelan military officer Pedro Carujo - entered the Presidential Palace, assassinating several of the president's guards and heading towards Bolívar's room..
Bolívar's partner, Manuela Sáenz, was the one who woke up and then alerted Bolívar, convincing him to escape through the window.
The plan having failed, many of those implicated and innocent were arrested for trial. Santander was one of the first suspects and was immediately sentenced to death; however, Bolívar spared his life and sent him into exile.
Many of those involved in the attack were able to escape, among whom was Luis Vargas Tejada. In his flight, he managed to take refuge in a town in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, in the house of his aunt Josefa Acevedo de Gómez.
Despite this, Vergas Tejada considered that it was not a safe place, so he left for the eastern plains, having to hide in a cave for a year. During that time he wrote one of his theatrical monologues, entitled Pausanias's mother, and the tragedy titled Doraminta, besides writing letters to his mother.
On leaving the cave, he headed towards Venezuela, having to take several rivers in the Eastern Plains. It is believed that Vargas Tejada drowned in December 1829 trying to reach his destination.
The dusk is a poem written by Luis Vargas Tejada known for being one of the first and most relevant. In the poem he uses sweet, melancholic and romantic words, in addition to describing a landscape, or the daily life of a town - possibly Colombian - just when night falls..
Another of the representative poems of Luis Vargas Tejada is the one entitled To my lyre. Like Dusk, is a poem that reflects melancholy, romanticism and loneliness.
In the work Memories of Boyacá, Colombian writer Luis Vargas Tejada reflected the great admiration he felt for the liberator Simón Bolívar, in addition to describing the battle that took place in Boyacá against the Spanish.
The Battle of Boyacá ended with the surrender of the royalist force and was the last stop in a campaign started from Venezuela to free the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Vargas Tejada used to relate some of the events of the insurgency through his literary works.
After a while, he wrote the play Cato of Utica in which he criticized the dictatorial attitude of Simón Bolívar, who had become president of Gran Colombia. However, Vargas Tejada reflected his hostility in a subtle and discreet way..
Luis Vargas Tejada was characterized by embracing in his literary works the neoclassical and academic drama of the 18th century that was in full swing. On the other hand, he developed indigenous themes in a fine and French-style way, such as Aquimín, Saquesagipa, Sugamuxi and Witikindo. Many of these texts were lost over time.
Seizures It is one of the works of Luis Vargas Tejada most recognized and represented in Colombia and other countries. It was released in 1828 and addresses the criticism of education, as well as the customs of the society of Santafé in Colombia.
The genre of the play is, par excellence, comedy; however, it is a type of acid humor with the ability to make an agile criticism.
The Colombian playwright Carlos José Reyes argued in one of his investigations that in the play Seizures by Luis Vargas Tejada the clear influence of the Spanish Golden Age is perceived, characterized by the flourishing of the arts.
On the other hand, he also observed the influence of the play The steel of Madrid by the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega, as well as the influence of Italian comedy. In addition, the Colombian's work resembles the comedy by Nicolás Maquiavelo, entitled Mandrake.
As for the elaboration of the dialogues and characters, it has the essence of the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni, of whom Vargas Tejada himself was a follower, to the point of translating one of his pieces into Spanish..
While Luis Vargas Tejada was hiding in one of the caves, he wrote many more literary works. The works were characterized by purely neoclassical prose, in which he managed to reflect his struggle for Independence and the political struggle against the dictatorship of Simón Bolívar..
Pausanias's mother and the tragedy Doraminta were the renowned works of Luis Vargas Tejada during his stay in the cave while fleeing the dictatorship towards Venezuela.
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