Emiliano R. Fernández
Encyclopedia
Emiliano R. Fernández was born on August 8, 1894, in Yvysunu, Guarambare
, Paraguay
. His parents were Silvestre Fernandez and Bernarda Rivarola.
During the revolution of 1904, which took the Liberal Party
, a traditional political group founded in 1887, to the power, he moved to Concepción
, where later he made the military service.
From the 20's, with a bohemian spirit he began to travel to all the points of Paraguay, writing his first poems which he would then recite or sing with his guitar: “Primavera” (I y II), “Trigueñita” y “Pyhare amaguype”, published in “Okara poty kue mi”, magazine of poetry and popular songs, edited for many years by the Trujillo family.
He later wrote two of his most popular songs in an epic tone: “Che la reina” o “Ahama che china” and “Rojas Silva rekavo”.
During the Chaco War
, between Paraguay and Bolivia
( 1932–1935 ) he was a member of the Infantry regiment “13 Tuyutí”, as a soldier, writing his best poems between the pauses of the battles. He was wounded and moved to Asuncion
.
As a soldier, in the first
and second
battles of Nanawa, he reached the summit of value and sacrifice. During the international conflict, his poems reached all the distant points of the country, giving enthusiasm and conviction of victory, which later gave him the nickname of “Tirteo verde olivo”, after the Sparta
n poet Tyrtaeus
, an expression he owes to Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo
.
More than 60 years later, whenever one of his songs is listened to, an inevitable patriotic emotion fills the hearts of his fellow citizens. The scholar and intellectual Carlos Villagra Marsal considers him the most popular poet in Paraguay. With his poems written in “jopara
” (mixture of guarani
and Spanish
) he could get deep inside the soul of his people.
One of the curiosities in his immense work are the verses dedicated to the women who had sometime had a relation with him, and there weren’t few: his wife, Maria Belen Lugo, Leandra Paredes, Zulmita Leon, Mercedes Rojas, Catalina Vallejos, Dominga Jara, Eloisa Osorio, Otilia Riquelme, Marciana de la Vega, among many others.
His last poem was dedicated to his nurse, Facunda Velásquez, a short time before dying.
He devoted himself to journalism for a few years, working in the “Semanario Guaraní” with Facundo Recalde. During his life he Publisher a small book named “Ka’aguy jary’i”, containing some of his more emblematic poems.
, then in San Pedro, Puerto Casado, Puerto Pinasco, Rancho Carambola (Brazil
), and besides being a musician and a poet, he was also known for various activities such as carpenter, scouts guide, and forest man. In one of the files of his many works in Carlos Casado, we can see together with the firing paper, the following recommendation:” he is not to be taken ever as a worker in this company because he likes to party too much.”
The historian Roberto A. Romero, among his biographers one of the main ones, refers about the circumstances of his death:” On November 3, 1948, at around 6 pm , Emiliano arrived to the store name “caracolito” of the neighborhood Loma Kavara”…There he was reached by a bullet from the shadows, who wounded him deeply…He had been ambushed. The author of the crime was taken. The musicians Ricardo Pereira , Federico Esmerdel and Carlos Vera took him to the Militar hospital…. That night he had a surgery by Dr Pedro de Felice. He stayed there for a few months…But he didn’t recover from his wounds …he died… after a long suffering, at around 4.25 on September 15, 1949.” On the fact of his death, Okara poty kue mi says: "he died from a treacherous bullet".
The great Paraguayan poet Elvio Romero
sang to him: “With a walking soul he went to rest on death, in the sad instant of his walking. He left on an errant night and left us his songs.”
Guarambaré
- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. His parents were Silvestre Fernandez and Bernarda Rivarola.
Childhood and youth
He is the author of more than 2,000 poems. Even though we don’t know much about his childhood we can say that during his first years he lived in the town named Ysaty, where he attended the elementary school until the 5th grade.During the revolution of 1904, which took the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Paraguay)
The Liberal Party , commonly known as the Blue Party was a political party in Paraguay, ruling the country for most of the period between 1904 and 1940.-References:...
, a traditional political group founded in 1887, to the power, he moved to Concepción
Concepción, Paraguay
- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, where later he made the military service.
From the 20's, with a bohemian spirit he began to travel to all the points of Paraguay, writing his first poems which he would then recite or sing with his guitar: “Primavera” (I y II), “Trigueñita” y “Pyhare amaguype”, published in “Okara poty kue mi”, magazine of poetry and popular songs, edited for many years by the Trujillo family.
He later wrote two of his most popular songs in an epic tone: “Che la reina” o “Ahama che china” and “Rojas Silva rekavo”.
During the Chaco War
Chaco War
The Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil. It is also referred to as La Guerra de la Sed in literary circles for being fought in the semi-arid Chaco...
, between Paraguay and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
( 1932–1935 ) he was a member of the Infantry regiment “13 Tuyutí”, as a soldier, writing his best poems between the pauses of the battles. He was wounded and moved to Asuncion
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
.
As a soldier, in the first
First Battle of Nanawa
The First Battle of Nanawa was a battle fought from January 20 to 26 in 1933 between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies during the Chaco War. Nanawa , established by the Paraguayans in 1928, was considered the strongest Paraguayan outpost after it was heavily fortified by the end of 1932 under...
and second
Second Battle of Nanawa
The Second Battle of Nanawa was a battle fought from July 4 to 9 in 1933 between the Bolivian and Paraguayan armies during the Chaco War. It was one of the bloodiest battles fought in South America in the 20th century, coming to be labeled as the "South American Verdun" by comparison with the...
battles of Nanawa, he reached the summit of value and sacrifice. During the international conflict, his poems reached all the distant points of the country, giving enthusiasm and conviction of victory, which later gave him the nickname of “Tirteo verde olivo”, after the Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
n poet Tyrtaeus
Tyrtaeus
Tyrtaeus was a Greek poet who composed verses in Sparta around the time of the Second Messenian War, the date of which isn't clearly establishedsometime in the latter part of the seventh century BC...
, an expression he owes to Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo
Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo
Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo was the main reference of the so called “golden generation” of the Paraguayan popular music and a strict studious of the Paraguayan folk music.-Biography:...
.
More than 60 years later, whenever one of his songs is listened to, an inevitable patriotic emotion fills the hearts of his fellow citizens. The scholar and intellectual Carlos Villagra Marsal considers him the most popular poet in Paraguay. With his poems written in “jopara
Jopará
Jopará The majority of Paraguayans, particularly younger ones, speak some form of jopará.Since 1992, under the Paraguay's Ministry of Education and Culture Act, Guaraní in its "pure form" — different from the day-to-day speech of jopará — has been taught in schools...
” (mixture of guarani
Guaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) he could get deep inside the soul of his people.
One of the curiosities in his immense work are the verses dedicated to the women who had sometime had a relation with him, and there weren’t few: his wife, Maria Belen Lugo, Leandra Paredes, Zulmita Leon, Mercedes Rojas, Catalina Vallejos, Dominga Jara, Eloisa Osorio, Otilia Riquelme, Marciana de la Vega, among many others.
His last poem was dedicated to his nurse, Facunda Velásquez, a short time before dying.
He devoted himself to journalism for a few years, working in the “Semanario Guaraní” with Facundo Recalde. During his life he Publisher a small book named “Ka’aguy jary’i”, containing some of his more emblematic poems.
History and works
Emilianore, as he was known, was a synthesis of the Paraguayan bohemian world. He was a traveler and a late sleeper, he lived for a while in Sapucai, then in CaballeroCaballero
Caballero, the Spanish word for "knight" or "gentleman", may also refer to:People* Caballero , people with the surname Caballero* Celestino Caballero, professional boxer from Panama...
, then in San Pedro, Puerto Casado, Puerto Pinasco, Rancho Carambola (Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
), and besides being a musician and a poet, he was also known for various activities such as carpenter, scouts guide, and forest man. In one of the files of his many works in Carlos Casado, we can see together with the firing paper, the following recommendation:” he is not to be taken ever as a worker in this company because he likes to party too much.”
Works
His extensive poetic work as well as musical incluyes, among others, the popular songs “Asunción del Paraguay”, “Las siete cabrillas”, “Adiós che paraje kue”, “La última letra”, “Siete notas musicales”, “Guavirá poty”, “Oda pasional”, “Tupasy del campo”, “Despierta mi Angelina”, “Che pochyma nendive”, “Nda che pochyi nendive”, “¿Porqué?”, “De lejos vengo”, “Tujami”, “Jagua rekove”, “Mboriahu memby”, “Reten pe pyhare”, “13 Tuyutí”, “Soldado guaraní”, “1º de Marzo”, “Ñesuhame”, “Nde keguype”, “Nde juru mbyte”, “Farra chui che kepe guare”.His last years
A short while before dying, he left a great message in his poem "Mi pluma": "my pen is a girl, my flag and my heroin, en the fight her audacity and her courage never stops, she is the spear that touches sharply, very softly a sentinel of my life, faithful guardian of my honor. It is my bohemian pen, the country harmony, failed by teutons with a mean instinct; she is the victim of the hatred of those stingy souls, 'late scholars of show off state'".The historian Roberto A. Romero, among his biographers one of the main ones, refers about the circumstances of his death:” On November 3, 1948, at around 6 pm , Emiliano arrived to the store name “caracolito” of the neighborhood Loma Kavara”…There he was reached by a bullet from the shadows, who wounded him deeply…He had been ambushed. The author of the crime was taken. The musicians Ricardo Pereira , Federico Esmerdel and Carlos Vera took him to the Militar hospital…. That night he had a surgery by Dr Pedro de Felice. He stayed there for a few months…But he didn’t recover from his wounds …he died… after a long suffering, at around 4.25 on September 15, 1949.” On the fact of his death, Okara poty kue mi says: "he died from a treacherous bullet".
The great Paraguayan poet Elvio Romero
Elvio Romero
Elvio Romero was born in Yegros, Paraguay, in 1926. He straddled the decades of the 1940s and 1950s in the history of Paraguayan poetry.- Childhood and youth :...
sang to him: “With a walking soul he went to rest on death, in the sad instant of his walking. He left on an errant night and left us his songs.”