Teresa Martínez de Varela

Biography

Teresa Martínez de Varela (also known under the pseudonym, Ilsa de Andágueda, 1 July 1913 – 16 June 1998) was an Afro-Colombian teacher, writer, and social leader. She was one of the first black women in Colombia to publish. Misunderstood, and often denied the ability to publish her works, the intellectual left many unpublished manuscripts at her death. For many years, she was known only as the mother of Jairo Varela, founder of Grupo Niche. Rediscovered in 2009, when Úrsula Mena de Lozano published her biography, some of her works were then collected in an anthology published by the Ministry of Culture in 2010. She is now regarded as one of the pioneering voices to bring African identity in Colombia into the literary landscape of the country and one of the primary intellectuals of her era.

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