poetry

Salomé Ureña (1850-1897) was born in Santo Domingo. She was the daughter of lawyer and writer Nicolás Ureña de Mendoza and Gregoria Díaz de León. She was exposed to great literature from a very early age, as her father taught her the classics of both French and Spanish literary traditions. This was crucial in shaping Ureña’s own aesthetics and stylistic choices later in life. From adolescence onward, she could recite full passages of literature in Spanish, French, English, and Latin. She began writing verses at the age of fifteen and published her first works at the age of seventeen. Her later work was marked by nostalgia and patriotism. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 46 and was buried in the church of Nuestra Señora las Mercedes