Andrés Núñez Olano

Cuban journalist and poet. He belonged to the Grupo Minorista, an avant-garde cultural movement. He excelled as a sonnetist and excellent chronicler of his time.

He was born in Unión de Reyes, in the province of Matanzas. He completed his primary and secondary education in the city of Matanzas.

He published his first journalistic works between 1917 and 1919 in El Imparcial, a Matanzas publication. Later, he entered the School of Law at the University of La Habana. However, he did not complete his degree, as he devoted himself full-time to journalism. He worked at El Sol, Heraldo de Cuba, El Mundo, El País, and Prensa Libre.

During that period, the young Núñez Olano began to gather with a group of novice intellectuals, who would later constitute the first and second Republican generations of Cuban artists. In 1920, a literary gathering was initiated at the Martí café, which Núñez Olano organized together with Rubén Martínez Villena and Enrique Serpa. Poets and writers who would achieve notoriety in the decade that was beginning attended these gatherings, such as Regino Pedroso and Juan Marinello.

In 1923, he co-authored with Guillermo Martínez Márquez the libretto for the zarzuela Las naciones del golfo, which was very successful. In 1927, he was among the founders of the Grupo Minorista, which brought together the young progressive intelligentsia.

He published in the press poems classified as postmodernist—which he never collected in a volume—among which Luna de Barrio stands out, paradigmatic of his style. Núñez Olano's verses, in general, show the influence of French symbolism and display peculiar sobriety in form. He distinguished himself for his abilities in sonnet composition and for an acute sensitivity. His sonnet El recuerdo inefable received warm critical praise.

He also wrote literary, theatrical, and cinematographic criticism, and was an outstanding chronicler. He was editor-in-chief of Ahora, La Discusión, Bohemia, and Carteles. He directed the weekly Resumen. Síntesis de acontecimientos y opiniones, which began circulating in La Habana on July 22, 1935. He worked as a writer and translator at El Fígaro, Social, El Sol, Chic, Revista de Avance, and El Mundo. At the latter, he became director of the Sunday rotogravure section.

He wrote prologues for books such as the selection of works by Rubén Martínez Villena—in a compilation also made by him—Un Nombre y otras prosas, published in La Habana in 1940. His translations of French literature appeared in different publications.

He collaborated in the biweekly magazine Renacimiento y Orto, in which he published poems; in the magazine Azul, published in La Habana, and his poems also appeared in the Literary Supplement of Diario de la Marina.

In 1944, he received the certificate of journalistic aptitude issued by the Escuela Profesional de Periodismo Manuel Márquez Sterling, of which he would later become a professor. He joined the National College of Journalists that same year. He was a professor at the School of Letters and Arts of the University of La Habana.

Active Bibliography

"El alma sonora", Orto, 10 (15): 3, Manzanillo, May 15, 1921.
"Poesías cubanas", Revista Bimestre Cubana, XXI: 430-432, La Habana, 1926.
"Instinto", Revista de Avance, 1 (7): 170, La Habana, June 1927.
"Las ventanas abiertas", Revista de Avance: 1 (7): 170, La Habana, June 1927.
"Estampas", Revista de Avance, 1 (7): 170, La Habana, June 1927.
"La flecha de Sagitario", Orto, 19 (3): 110, Manzanillo, March 1930.
"El recuerdo inefable", Orto, 19 (6): 184, Manzanillo, June 1930.
"Variaciones sobre un tema antiguo", Orto, 19 (2): 70-71, Manzanillo, February 1930.
"Rubén", Un nombre y otras prosas, La Habana, Úcar y García, 1940.
"Respuesta a consultas", El Mundo: 4, La Habana, March 31, 1964.
"Verbos mal usados", El Mundo: 4, La Habana, March 22, 1964.

Passive Bibliography

Carbonell y Rivero, José Manuel: "Andrés Nuñéz Olano", La poesía lírica en Cuba, Imprenta El Siglo XX, La Habana, 1928.
Henríquez Ureña, Max: Panorama histórico de la literatura cubana, v. 2, Editorial Félix Varela, La Habana, 2005.
Instituto de Literatura y Lingüística de la Academia de Ciencias de Cuba: Diccionario de la Literatura Cubana, v. 2, Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 1984.
Lizaso, Félix and José Antonio Fernández de Castro: "Andrés Núñez Olano", La poesía moderna en Cuba (1882-1925), Librería y Casa Editorial Hernando, Madrid, 1926.
Vitier, Cintio: "Andrés Núñez Olano", Cincuenta años de poesía cubana (1902-1952), Ministry of Education and Direction of Culture, La Habana, 1952

Awards

1944 Certificate of journalistic aptitude issued by the Escuela Profesional de Periodismo Manuel Márquez Sterling, of which he would later become a professor.
1955 Second award for Article or Chronicle of the Premio Juan Gualberto Gómez, for an article published in El Mundo on December 30, 1954.
November 1944 Awarded the Premio Enrique José Varona
August 1956. Recognition for an article on the death of the great Cuban chess player José Raúl Capablanca.