Emilia Serrano de Wilson

Emilia Serrano y García (Granada, ca. January 3, 1834 - Barcelona, January 1, 1923) was a Spanish writer and journalist. A traveler throughout the Latin American continent, one of the most praised characteristics of her career has been her feminist work. Serrano used the pseudonyms Emilia Serrano de Wilson, Baronesa de Wilson, and Emilia Serrano de Tornel. In addition to being a novelist, she was the author of works on history and education. Between 1857 and 1861, she directed the newspapers La Caprichosa and La Nueva Caprichosa in Madrid. She also collaborated on El Eco Ferrolano, El Último Figurín, El Correo de la Moda, Las Hijas del Sol, La Primera Edad, El Gato Negro, La Ilustración Artística, and Álbum Salón. Serrano, who made several trips around Latin America throughout her life, left written works such as Maravillas americanas and América y sus mujeres in relation to her stay in the American continent. It has been said that Serrano was born in Granada, however, many doubt this statement and think that the place of the author's birth is unknown. Likewise, the date is unknown, both the day and the year, although some believe the year was 1833, and others 1834, among various options. She indicates that she was born in 1845, but other sources of information, such as her death certificate, suggest that she was born about ten years earlier. Despite the unknown details of the author, it is known for certain that she lived in a privileged family and was endowed with a refined culture and an intellectual environment from her youth.

Serrano's stay in Paris was notable as she would rub shoulders with great personalities and French romantic writers, such as Alphonse de Lamartine and Alexandre Dumas. She became the first international literary agent of the latter, as his representative and manager of his rights to translate into Spanish. In 1857, during her stay in Paris, she founded and directed, until 1860, the women's fashion magazine La Caprichosa, which was very successful both in Spain and throughout Latin America.

From then on until 1914, her visits to different countries in Latin America would be repeated more than five times. First World War and Serrano's failing health did not allow her to travel to Latin America any further.7 Her audacity, her training and cosmopolitanism helped her to draw social and personal networks that connected her with great cultural and political personalities of the century. Thanks to this, she became an advisor to rulers, such as the Mexican president, Porfirio Díaz, and an official historian of countries such as Venezuela or Mexico, as well as the most widely disseminated author in Latin American schools. All this made the writer one of the most significant figures in travel literature of the 19th century.

She also increased her journalistic activity, especially in Barcelona, where she settled in the late 1880s and early 1890s to carry out commercial projects with Latin America. In total, she published 39 writings in La Ilustración Artística de Barcelona, between 1887 and 1916, whose main theme was stories with an Americanist theme.

She rescued news about the life and work of numerous contemporary writers, but also of prominent philanthropists, artists or forgotten heroines.

Later life She spent the last years of her life dedicated to the unfinished Historia General de América until she died on January 1, 1923. Her body was buried in the Montjuïc Cemetery.

Selected works

Books 1858. Las Siete palabras de Cristo en la cruz, poema en verso por ... 1859. El Camino de la Cruz, poema en verso 1860. Manual, ó sea, Guía de los viajeros en la Gran Bretaña 1860. El almacén de las señoritas 1860. Alfonso el Grande. Poema histórico 1861. ¡¡Pobre Ana!! legenda historica (in verse) 1870. El Angel de paz, colección de novelas morales, por la baronesa de Wilson 1883. La ley del progreso 1883. Las perlas del corazón 1884. Lágrimas y sonrisas: poesías líricas 1888. Americanos célebres 1890. América y sus mujeres 1890. El mártir de Izancanac 1897. América en fin de siglo 1903. El mundo literario americano. Escritores contemporáneos. 1903. México y sus gobernantes : de 1519 a 1910 : biografías, retratos y autógrafos 1910. Maravillas americanas Maravillas Americanas: curiosidades geológicas y arqueológicas. Tradiciones leyendas. Algo de todo 1910. El parnaso chileno 1910. Parnaso chileno, aum. con una segunda serie por la baronesa de Wilson 1924. Almacén de las señoritas: Contiene lecciones de differentes 1958. México y sus gobernantes de 1519 a 1910: biografías... - ''' (no publication date found) Magdalena (no publication date found) Misterio del almaNewspapers 1854. El Eco hispano-americano. (Madrid) 1871–1872. El último figurín. (Madrid) 1877–1878. Semanario del pacífico. (Lima) 1906–1912. La Nueva caprichosa (Havana) (undated). El continente americano (Mexico City) (undated). La Crónica ilustrada (Barcelona)