Amelia Francasci

Amelia Francisca Marchena Sánchez de Leyba, known as Amelia Francasci (October 4, 1850 – February 28, 1941) was a writer, considered the first female Dominican Republic novelist. She is known for introducing the autobiographical genre to the national literature of the Dominican Republic. Francasci was a feminist, and she faced significant criticism for writing prose at a time when women were expected to write poetry. She was also criticized for her work in erotic literature.

Early life Amelia Francisca de Marchena Sánchez was born in Santo Domingo in 1850, the daughter of Rafael de Marchena Peláez, who was a Dutch Jew of Sephardi background, and Justa Sánchez de la Parra, who was Dominican. She had four siblings, including Eugenio de Marchena and Emilia de Cohén. She chose the pen name Amelia Francasci based on an anagram of her second name.

Politically, Francasci was a liberal, a member of the Liberal Party of the Republic of the time. She belonged to the country's ruling class, and her skills, literary work, and position in public life marked her as a cultured woman. Though women at the time had little or no rights, and the constitution did not recognize them as subjects, she still was deeply politically informed. Her work is considered to be in the tradition of costumbrismo. Many of her books took on an innovative autobiographical and introspective tone, including Recuerdos e impresiones: historia de una novella. Contemporary critics charged her with failing to write stories set in her native country, opting instead for distant locations such as Madrid. in 1886 she married Rafael María Leyba Amarante, who was 11 years her junior. He died in 1909, and while the couple left no officially known descendants,

Selected works

Madre culpable (1892) Francisca Martinoff (1901) Recuerdos e impresiones: historia de una novella (1901) Cierzo en primavera (1902) Monseñor de Meriño intimo (1926)