Oribe, Emilio (?–1975)

Emilio Oribe (b. ca. 1890s; d. 1975), Uruguayan poet, writer, literary critic, and educator. After completing his medical studies in Montevideo, Oribe was posted to Brussels as scientific attaché at the Uruguayan embassy. While there, he published his first book of poetry, Alucinaciones de belleza (1912). He never practiced medicine, but taught philosophy and worked for the National Council of Education of Uruguay. Oribe's poetry and essays were informed by the work of classical Greek and medieval philosophers, as is shown in Transcendencia y platonismo en poesía (1948) and Tres ideales estéticos (1958).

Essayistic works such as Teoría del nous (1934) and El mito y el logos (1945) focus primarily on topics relevant to the process of writing poetry and on "eternal" concerns such as time, death, and immortality. Characteristic of most of Oribe's thirty-seven published collections is an intellectual or metaphysical focus. Other poems, however, treat more earthy topics, such as the emotion experienced in the countryside, personal confidences, nature, history, customs, and the mystery of life.

Other important works by Oribe include Fugacidad y grandeza (1941), La medusa de Oxford (1950), Ars magna: Poemas (1950), and Antología poética (1965). He is considered one of the outstanding intellectuals of his generation.

See alsoBuenos Aires; Montevideo; Uruguay, Political Parties: Blanco Party.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Homenaje a Emilio Oribe en la Academia Nacional de Letras (1958).

Sarah Bollo, Literatura uruguaya, 1807–1965, vol. 2 (1965).

Norma Suiffet, Tres poetas de Cerro Largo: Emilio Oribe, Juana de Ibarbourou, José Lucas (1978).

Additional Bibliography

Sesto Gilardoni, Isabel. Emilio Oribe: El poeta. Montevideo: Barreiro y Ramos, 1981.

                                          William H. Katra