Volodia Teitelboim
Encyclopedia
Volodia Valentín Teitelboim Volosky (March 17, 1916 - January 31, 2008) was a Chile
an lawyer, politician and author.
Born in Chillán
to Jewish immigrants (Ukrainian
Moises Teitelboim and Bessarabia
n Sara Volosky), Teitelboim was interested in literature from an early age. He finished high school (as well as served in the Communist Youth starting at age sixteen), then began his studies in the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile, where at graduation he presented his superior thesis “The Dawn of Capitalism - The Conquest of America.”
During the 1940s Teitelboim suffered, along with all the militants of the Chilean Communist Party
, persecution and exile, under the ruling of the Democratic Defense Law (also known as Ley maldita). He was treated and detained in Pisagua
. In 1965 he was elected senator of Santiago, remaining in this position until the coup of September 11, 1973. During the rule of Pinochet he lived in exile in Moscow, where he developed the program Listen Chile. He clandestinely infiltrated the Militant Regiment, presenting them to the authorities in 1988. The next year he was elected president of the Communist Party, a position he held until 1994.
Teitelboim was formerly married to Rachel Weitzmann, with whom he raised a son named Claudio Teitelboim. However, in 2005 it was discovered that Claudio's father was actually the lawyer Álvaro Bunster.
Teitelboim's literary work, for which he was awarded Chile's National Prize in Literature in 2002, as well as the Literature prize of the 1931 Flower Games, is chiefly in the form of memoirs, biographies, and literary essays. His first book Antología de poesía chilena (Anthology of Chilean Poetry) was published in conjunction with Eduardo Anguita
in 1932, and compiled the great poets of Chile. He would later say that it committed the errors of omitting Gabriela Mistral
and of accentuating the dispute between Vicente Huidobro
, Pablo de Rokha
, and Pablo Neruda
. His series of memoirs, Un muchacho del siglo XX (A Boy of the Twentieth Century, 1997), La gran guerra de Chile y otra que nunca existió (The Great War of Chile and Another That Never Existed, 2000) and Noches de radio (Radio Nights, 2001) present from a political and social perspective the great arch of Chilean history during the 20th century. His best known capacity is that of a biographer, in which he wrote about Jorge Luis Borges
, Vicente Huidobro, and with the most critical acclaim, Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. In terms of membership in literary movements, he is generally located within the Chilean Generation of '38.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an lawyer, politician and author.
Born in Chillán
Chillán
Chillán is a city in the Biobío Region of Chile located about south of the country's capital, Santiago, near the geographical center of the country. It is the capital of Ñuble Province and, with a population of approximately 170,000 people , the most populated urban center of this province...
to Jewish immigrants (Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Moises Teitelboim and Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n Sara Volosky), Teitelboim was interested in literature from an early age. He finished high school (as well as served in the Communist Youth starting at age sixteen), then began his studies in the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile, where at graduation he presented his superior thesis “The Dawn of Capitalism - The Conquest of America.”
During the 1940s Teitelboim suffered, along with all the militants of the Chilean Communist Party
Communist Party of Chile
The Communist Party of Chile is a Chilean political party inspired by the thoughts of Karl Marx and Lenin. It was founded in 1922, as the continuation of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1934 it established its youth wing, the Communist Youth of Chile .In the last legislative elections in Chile...
, persecution and exile, under the ruling of the Democratic Defense Law (also known as Ley maldita). He was treated and detained in Pisagua
Pisagua
Pisagua is a Chilean port on the Pacific Ocean, located in Huara comuna , in Tarapacá Region, northern Chile. In 2007, the new province of El Tamarugal was established and the comuna of Huara, previously within the province of Iquique, was incorporated to the newly created province.-Early...
. In 1965 he was elected senator of Santiago, remaining in this position until the coup of September 11, 1973. During the rule of Pinochet he lived in exile in Moscow, where he developed the program Listen Chile. He clandestinely infiltrated the Militant Regiment, presenting them to the authorities in 1988. The next year he was elected president of the Communist Party, a position he held until 1994.
Teitelboim was formerly married to Rachel Weitzmann, with whom he raised a son named Claudio Teitelboim. However, in 2005 it was discovered that Claudio's father was actually the lawyer Álvaro Bunster.
Teitelboim's literary work, for which he was awarded Chile's National Prize in Literature in 2002, as well as the Literature prize of the 1931 Flower Games, is chiefly in the form of memoirs, biographies, and literary essays. His first book Antología de poesía chilena (Anthology of Chilean Poetry) was published in conjunction with Eduardo Anguita
Eduardo Anguita
Eduardo Anguita Cuéllar was a Chilean poet, who was awarded the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1988.- Life :...
in 1932, and compiled the great poets of Chile. He would later say that it committed the errors of omitting Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945...
and of accentuating the dispute between Vicente Huidobro
Vicente Huidobro
Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández was a Chilean poet born to an aristocratic family. He was an exponent of the artistic movement called Creacionismo , which held that a poet should bring life to the things he or she writes about, rather than just describe them.Huidobro was born into a wealthy...
, Pablo de Rokha
Pablo de Rokha
Pablo de Rokha . His real name was Pablo Díaz Loyola, and was a Chilean poet. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1965....
, and Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
. His series of memoirs, Un muchacho del siglo XX (A Boy of the Twentieth Century, 1997), La gran guerra de Chile y otra que nunca existió (The Great War of Chile and Another That Never Existed, 2000) and Noches de radio (Radio Nights, 2001) present from a political and social perspective the great arch of Chilean history during the 20th century. His best known capacity is that of a biographer, in which he wrote about Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, Vicente Huidobro, and with the most critical acclaim, Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. In terms of membership in literary movements, he is generally located within the Chilean Generation of '38.
List of published works
- Antología de poesía chilena (Anthology of Chilean Poetry) - 1935
- El amanecer del capitalismo. La conquista de América (The dawn of capitalism. The conquest of America) - 1943
- Hijo del salitre (Son of saltpeter) - 1952
- La semilla en la arena. Pisagua (The seed in the sand) - 1957
- Hombre y hombre (Man and man) - 1969
- El oficio ciudadano (The duty of the citizen) - 1973
- El pan de las estrellas (The bread of the stars) - 1973
- La lucha continúa, pólvora del exilio (The struggle continue, powder from exile) - 1976
- Narradores chilenos del exilio (Chilean storytellers from exile) - 1978
- Neruda - 1984
- La palabra y la sangre (The word and the blood) - 1986
- El corazón escrito (The written heart) - 1986
- En el país prohibido (In the forbidden country) - 1988
- Gabriela Mistral, pública y secreta (Gabriela Mistral, public and secret) - 1991
- Huidobro, la marcha infinita (Huidobro, the infinite march) - 1993
- Los dos Borges (The two Borges) - 1996
- Un muchacho del siglo XX (A Boy of the 20th Century) - 1997
- Notas de un concierto europeo (Notes from a European concert) - 1997
- Voy a vivirme (I am going to live myself) - 1998
- La gran guerra de Chile y otra que nunca existió (The great war of Chile and another which never existed) - 2000
- Noches de radio (Nights of radio) - 2001
- Ulises llega en locomotora (Ulysses arrives in a locomotive) - 2002