Numa Pompilio Llona

Numa Pompilio Llona Echeverri (March 5, 1832 – April 5, 1907) was an Ecuadorian poet, journalist, educator, diplomat, and philosopher.

Numa Pompilio Llona was widely read in his time, but today he is mostly forgotten.

Biography

His father was the Ecuadorian lawyer Dr. Manuel Leocadio de Llona y Rivera, and his mother was Mercedes Echeverri Llados from Colombia. Born in Guayaquil, Numa Pompilio Llona completed primary school in Cali, Colombia, and completed secondary school in Lima, Peru. He received a law degree at the Universidad San Marcos in Lima, Peru.

Career From 1854 to 1859, Numa Pompilo Llona was the literary editor of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. In 1882 he was appointed the rector of the University of Guayaquil, where he held the professorship of aesthetics and general literature. He also served as a diplomat in Spain (1860–62), France, Italy (1864), and Colombia (1884), and formed friendships with many famous poets and writers of the time, such as Victor Hugo, George Sand, Alphonse de Lamartine, Cienfuegos Manzini, Núñez de Arce, Leopard and others. He was also the director of the Municipal Museum and Library of Guayaquil (1904 to 1907).

Marriage Numa Pompilio Llona was married to Enriqueta Marchena y Bentín, and after her death, married the Peruvian poet and journalist Lastenia Larriva.

Death Numa Pompilio Llona died on April 5, 1907. His remains are interred in crypt # 705-C in the Cementerio General of Guayaquil.

Legacy

One of Guayaquil’s most popular tourist attractions, the neighborhood Las Peñas has a street named after Numa Pompilio Llona. Many of this street’s 400-year-old houses have been converted into art galleries and several notable artists have studios there. There are also schools in Ecuador named after Numa Pompilio Llona.

Literary works Cien sonetos (1847) Cien sonetos nuevos (1880) Interrogaciones Amor supremo Himnos, dianas y elegías patrióticas y religiosas De la penumbra a la Luz Cantos americanos (1866) Nuevas poesías Artículos en rosa Noches de dolor en las montañas (1872) Cantos patrióticos y religiosos (1881) Canto a la vida La odisea del alma (1876) Clamores de Occidente Poemas amatorios y diversos (1882) El gran enigma Noche de dolor en las montañas Grandeza moral La bandera del ecuador La estela de una vida (1893) Los caballeros del Apocalipsis (1869)