Pen name Lucila Palacios | Nationality Trinidadian-Venezuelan | |
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Died 31 August 1994, Caracas, Venezuela | ||
Mercedes Carvajal de Arocha known as Lucila Palacios (8 November, 1902 – 31 August, 1994) was a Trinidadian-Venezuelan writer, politician and diplomat. She was the first woman member of the Academia Venezolana de la Lengua.
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Life
Arocha was born on the island of Trinidad in 1902 in Port of Spain. She took the nom de plume of Lucila Palacios. She chose the name of Lucios in honour of the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral whose real first name was Lucios. Her new surname was taken from Concepción Palacios who was Simon Bolivar's mother. She married Carlos Arocha and they had four children.
In 1931 she began writing and in 1947 she was a representative in the National Constituent Assembly. From 1948 to 1952 she was a senator. During this time she was raped. She was known for defending the rights of women and children.
She wrote short stories, poems and novels in Spanish. She won a number of prestigious awards and she was the first woman member of the Academia Venezolana de la Lengua who are interested in Venezuelan Spanish.
In 1963 she became her country's ambassador to Uruguay.
Arocha died in Caracas in 1994.
Legacy
Her novels have been studied and published as The Political Novels of Lucila Palacios and Marta Lynch.