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Teresa de la Parra
(October 5, 1889 - April 23, 1936) Venezuela

Teresa de la Parra

Writer and novelist

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Born as Ana Teresa de la Parra Sanojo, in Paris, to a Venezuelan couple. Her father, Rafael Parra Hernáiz, was the Venezuelan consul in Paris. She was 2 year-old when his parents went back to Venezuela, where she spent her childhood in Tazón, a small town outside Caracas.

When she was nine years old her father died, and the family moved to Valencia, Spain. De la Parra returned to Venezuela when she was eighteen years old, just to find Caracas a much changed city. At that time, Juan Vicente Gómez was in power, and his government was trying to implement political opening and modernization.

Teresa de la ParraIn 1930 Teresa de la Parra became ill with tuberculosis and began a long and painful oddyssey through several European hospitals. She died six years later in Madrid. Her mother and her great friend Lydia Cabrera were at her side during her last moments.

Teresa de la Parra's work is not very extensive. It consists of two novels, Ifigenia (1922) and Memorias de Mamá Blanca (1929). Her published work also includes her correspondence and diary, which constitute very revealing sources for a better understanding of her fiction. Her work has been open to lesbian interpretation.

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