The Exploits of Dulce María Loynaz Muñoz

November 5, 2020

The Cuban poetess Dulce María Loynaz received one day like today in 1993 from the hands of the King of Spain, in the Paraninfo of the University of Alcalá de Henares, the Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra Prize, corresponding to the year 1992.

This is the highest award granted by the Ministry of Culture of Spain for the creative work of Spanish and Hispanic American writers whose work has contributed to notably enriching the literary heritage in the Spanish language.

Candidates for this honor are proposed by the plenary of the Real Academia Española, by the Language Academies of Spanish-speaking countries, and by winners in past editions.

Dulce María's true name was María Mercedes Loynaz y Muñoz (Havana, 1902-1997); she was a writer, poet, and journalist; in 1927 she graduated as a lawyer from the University of Havana and practiced law for many years, until 1961.

From the moment she graduates with a degree in Law, she increases her literary production, although she had already been included in 1926 in the anthology Modern Poetry in Cuba (1882-1925) compiled by Félix Lizaso and José Antonio Fernández de Castro.

In 1927 she writes Bestiarium and the following year Versos. In 1929, she travels to Egypt, and visits the famous tomb of the young pharaoh, a moment in which she is inspired to write one of her most known, read, and recited poems: "Love Letter to King Tut-Ank-Amen".

She received the National Prize for Literature in 1987, in recognition of the extraordinary values of her literary work, which includes her notable volumes, Juegos de agua, Jardín, Un verano en Tenerife, and Fe de vida, her memoirs, among others; she is considered the greatest Cuban writer of the past century.

Jardín, perhaps the most celebrated of her works, she began writing in 1928; it took her seven years to complete it and it was not published until 1951; due to the stylistic elements used by the author, it is classified as a precursor of current Hispanic American fiction.

Dulce María Loynaz was named in 1959 a member of the Academia Cubana de la Lengua and in 1968 she was elected a corresponding member of the Real Academia Española de la Lengua; two years later the institution itself, in recognition of her linguistic and literary knowledge, appoints her as a member in the corresponding Hispanic American class in Cuba, authorized by the greater seal of the Academy.

In the year 1988 she is appointed Honorary President of the Academia Cubana de la Lengua, as a result of her tremendous work in behalf of the Spanish language, its care and development, until in 1995, in view of her delicate state of health, she officially withdraws from this prestigious institution, for which she is named at that moment Honorary and Perpetual President.

The poetess, eldest daughter of General Enrique Loynaz y del Castillo of the Liberating Army, became for many a myth because of the seclusion in which she lived for many years of her life; before receiving the Cervantes Prize, she had been nominated for it on two occasions by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española.

Among the values of her work, which especially sustained this honor, the mastery in the handling of Spanish, refinement of language, power of synthesis, clarity, simplicity and sobriety in lyrical expression were highlighted.

The Cervantes Prize, which, in general opinion, reinstated her in the elevated position she always deserved in Hispanic American letters, was preceded by other notable recognitions such as the Isabel la Católica Journalism Prize, obtained in 1991 for the set of articles on this figure titled "The Last Rosary of a Queen", published in the Spanish newspaper ABC.

Dulce María Loynaz occupied seat 18 on the list of recipients of the Cervantes Prize, which has been awarded annually since 1976 and is the most important in the Castilian Language; she was the second woman and the first Latin American to receive it. She was also the second Cuban, because Alejo Carpentier had won it before in 1977.

Paradoxically, a woman who was not very inclined to laughter, and rather to introspection and melancholy, chose as her acceptance speech for the prize the capacity of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha to make people laugh in adverse circumstances and despite its age, but she did not renounce the possibility of ironizing and casting a sharp look at her present.

The poetess decided that the Cuban writer, journalist, and diplomat Lisandro Otero (Havana, 1932-2008), National Prize for Literature of Cuba 2002, would read her address, which began by revealing: "It constitutes for me the highest honor to which I could aspire in what remains of my life that you grant me today, joining my name, in some way, to that of the author of the immortal book".

Later she also commented: "Don Quixote's feat is that it continues to make people laugh... and it has united with humor men of several centuries... Laughter is an almost volatile substance, I mean difficult to preserve... it is important to highlight the humorous aspect of the Quixote, because keeping fresh that volatile element in words written centuries ago I believe constitutes a true feat".

A feat was also what this poetess achieved, who never forgot her mambi and heroic heritage, and never renounced her commitment to Cuban culture, which owes her so much.