María Fernández de Tinoco
María Fernández de Tinoco | |
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Born | María de las Mercedes Elodia Fernández Le Cappellain 22 January 1877 San José, Costa Rica |
Died | 23 November 1961 San José, Costa Rica | (aged 84)
Other names | María Fernández Le Cappellain, María Fernández Le Cappellain de Tinoco, María Fernández Le Cappellain de Tinoco Granados, pseudonym Apaikán |
Occupation(s) | writer, archaeologist |
Spouse |
María Fernández de Tinoco (22 January 1877 – 23 November 1961) was a
Early life
María de las Mercedes Elodia Fernández Le Cappellain, known as Mimita, was born on 22 January 1877 in San José, Costa Rica to Ada Le Cappellain Agnew and Mauro Fernández Acuña. She was the second of the couple's seven children.[1][2] Her father was a politician and was involved in the creation of the first secondary school for women in Costa Rica, having hired his sister-in-law, Marian Le Cappellain to found the school.[3] Both Ada and her sister Marian were natives of the Channel Islands, grew up on Guernsey, and had previously taught in Costa Rica.[4] After studying with Juanita Acuña, Fernández completed her education abroad in England, studying archaeology, art and music.[1][2] She returned to Costa Rica and on 5 June 1898 in San José, married Federico Alberto de Jesús Tinoco Granados. Federico's family were friends of her parents, and like Fernández, he had been educated abroad.[1]
Career
While husband became involved in politics, Fernández de Tinoco became involved as one of the founding members of the Theosophical Society in 1904. She was interested in learning about and exploring indigenous cultures[1] and began making amateur archaeological digs on the family farm. One such dig in 1907, led her to conceive of the plot for a novel.[5] In 1909, under the pseudonym Apaikán[1] published two works Yontá and Zulai in a single volume. The novels were the first works by a Costa Rican author to focus on indigenous people. Yontá gives the background story for Zulai, though it was written last. Both are based on theosophical themes and deal with the sentimental entanglement of two generations of lovers. In Yontá, the main character's name, an indigenous woman meets a mystic from India who brings eastern rituals and religion to the Americas. The couple produce a son, Ivo, who in the second book, Zulai, falls in love with Zulai. Their love is tragically doomed by the jealousy of the caciques. [6]
In addition to the novels, Fernández de Tinoco published other scholarly works on archaeology[7] and was a collaborator with Ángela Acuña Braun in the journal Fígaro, which had been founded in 1914.[8] She also devoted time to charitable endeavors, such as co-founding the Costa Rican branch of La Gota de Leche (A Drop of Milk) and El Abrigo de los Niñoswas (The Children's Shelter) in 1913 and becoming involved in 1915 with the first Boy Scout Troop of Costa Rica.[1] She published articles on a variety of subjects in newspapers, including the Diario de Costa Rica, La Hora, and La República, and magazines like Repertorio Americano and Revista de Archivos Nacionales.[9]
On 27 January 1917, Fernández de Tinoco's husband, Federico, staged a
In France, Fernández de Tinoco joined a group of archaeologists and continued to participate in the field. She also served as an assistant to launch the Exhibition of Aboriginal Art of Spanish America, held in 1928 in Paris. When her husband died in 1931, she moved to Oslo, where her sister Ada, and brother-in-law, Antonio J. de Amaral Murtinho, were living. She attended a reception for Lord Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, held in Oslo in 1932, but within two years, decided to return home to Costa Rica.[1]
Taking a position with the
Death and legacy
Fernández de Tinoco died on 23 November 1961 in San José, Costa Rica.[1] In 2012, a documentary, La ocarina de Cuesta de Moras (The ocarina of the Cuesta de Moras, which is the address of the National Museum and a play on the title of her 1937 article on the ocarina) was produced by the Ministry of Culture and Youth, detailing the life story of Fernández de Tinoco.[11]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sáenz Carbonell, Fernández Alfaro & Muñoz Castro de Fernández Silva 2001.
- ^ a b c Víquez Guzmán 2009.
- ^ Molina Jiménez & Palmer 2003, p. 92.
- ^ Murchie 1981, p. 205.
- ^ Solera 1987, p. 283.
- ^ Solera 1987, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Solera 1987, p. 282.
- ^ Rodríguez S. 2004, p. 10.
- ^ Meza Márquez 2011, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Meza Márquez 2011, p. 82.
- ^ National Museum of Costa Rica 2012.
Bibliography
- Meza Márquez, Consuelo (2011). "Fernández Le Cappellain de Tinoco, María de las Mercedes". Diccionario bibliográfico de narradoras centroamericanas con obra publicada entre 1890 y 2010 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Aguascalientes, Mexico: ISBN 978-607-8227-43-3.
- Molina Jiménez, Iván; Palmer, Steven (2003). Educando a Costa Rica: alfabetización popular, formación docente y género (1880–1950) (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia. ISBN 978-9968-31-278-3.
- Murchie, Anita Gregorio (1981). Imported Spices: A Study of Anglo-American Settlers in Costa Rica, 1821-1900. San José, Costa Rica: Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Department of Publications.
- Rodríguez S., Eugenia (2004). "Cronología: Participación Sociopolítica Femenina en Costa Rica (1890–1952)" [Chronology: Female Sociopolitic Participation in Costa Rica (1890–1952)]. University of Costa Rica (in Spanish). San Pedro Montes de Oca, Costa Rica. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- Sáenz Carbonell, Jorge Francisco; Fernández Alfaro, Joaquín Alberto; Muñoz Castro de Fernández Silva, María Gabriela (2001). "Doña María Fernández Le Cappellain de Tinoco Granados". Las primeras damas de Costa Rica (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: ICE. ISBN 978-9977-930-07-7. Archived from the originalon 15 November 2017 – via Guías Costa Rica.
- Solera, Rodrigo (June 1987). "La Novela de Tema Indigena en Costa Rica" [The Novel of Indigenous Theme in Costa Rica]. Revista Iberoamericana (in Spanish). LIII (138–139). Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: ISSN 0034-9631. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- Víquez Guzmán, Benedicto (9 September 2009). "María Fernández Le Capellain (De Tinoco)". heredia-costarica.zonalibre.org (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: Benedicto Víquez Guzmán. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2017. Self-published with citations to source materials.
- "María Fernández: "La ocarina de cuesta de Moras"". museocostarica.go.cr (in Spanish). San José, Costa Rica: National Museum of Costa Rica. October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.