Colombian Women Writers from the 19th Century

Maria Josefa Acevedo de Gómez

Born: January 23, 1803

Died: January 19, 1861

Maria Josefa Acevedo de Gómez was a Colombian  writer who excelled in folkloric literature. Her works have a strong inclination towards morality.

She was the daughter of Jose Acevedo y Gomez, hero of the independence known as the “Tribune of the People.” Circumstances related to the wars of Independence and the political uncertainties typical of those years affected the lives of the writer and her generation which they used as themes for their work.

Josefa was born before the Independence wars and the environment growing up influenced her writings. Moreover, her mother's educational upbringing allowed her family to become prominent in politics and public life allowing Josefa to become the first female writer of the republic and giving way to other women who wanted to break the silence bound to them since the colonization of Latin America.

¡O tú, que disfrutar tranquilo puedes
El encanto feliz de dulce sueño
Tú que encuentras la calma y el reposo
Siempre que te reclinas en tu lecho
Nada turba tu espíritu, ni inquieta
Las horas que designas al sosiego
Las risueñas imágenes del día
Por la noche recrean tu pensamiento
No sabes que es amor… Aun no has probado
Esta mezcla de néctar i veneno,
Ignoras su embriaguez, sus arrebatos,
Sus dudas, sus placeres y tormentos.

- A pedimento de una amiga para dirigirlo a un joven de 19 años (1825)