Teresa de la Parra
| Teresa de la Parra | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 5, 1889 Paris, France |
| Died | April 23, 1936 (aged 46) Madrid, Spain |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality |
Venezuelan 
|
| Period | 1920-1936 |
| Notable works | Ifigenia, Memorias de Mamá Blanca |
Teresa de la Parra (October 5, 1889 – April 23, 1936) was a Venezuelan novelist.
She was born Ana Teresa Parra Sanojo in Paris, the daughter of Rafael Parra Hernáiz, Venezuelan Ambassador in Berlin, and Isabel Sanojo de Parra.
As a member of a wealthy family, Ana Teresa spent part of her childhood at her father's hacienda Tazón. After the death of her father, Ana Teresa and her sisters were taken by their mother to study at the Sacred Heart School, in Godella, Spain. Under fervent religious precepts, they received a solid education, suitable for upper-class young ladies. Ana Teresa returned to Caracas at the age of 19.
After she settled in Paris, de la Parra travelled and had an intense social life. She began to research a biography of Simón Bolívar, perhaps inspired by the centenary of his death. However, her idea was interrupted when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Teresa de la Parra wandered in several European sanatoriums, mainly in Switzerland and Spain, but did not find a cure. It was then that she met cuban poet and anthropologist Lydia Cabrera who would play an important role in his life during his last years. She reflected about her philosophical and literary ideas, and studied her own work and life evolution through the years. The longest and most beautiful letters ever written to her family and friends, and her intimate diaries, come from this time and must be considered as part of her literature.
Teresa de la Parra died in Madrid. Her remains were exhumed and brought to Caracas in 1947. In 1989, the 100th anniversary of her birth, she was reburied with honors at the National Pantheon in Caracas.
She rebelled against the limited expectations for women of her class by long hours of reading and writing. Her fantastic stories were published in the newspaper El Universal, and her Diary of a Caraqueña in the Far East was published in the magazine Actualidades. De la Parra's story Mama X earned first prize in a contest held in a provincial Venezuelan city. This story, as well as her Diary of a young lady who writes because she is bored (which was published in the magazine La Lectura Semanal) was the beginning of her first major work.
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