Born: 5 October 1889, France
Died: 23 April 1936
Country most active: Venezuela
Also known as: Ana Teresa Parra Sanojo
Venezuelan novelist Teresa de la Parra is remembered for her novels Iphigenia: Diary of a young lady who wrote because she was bored (1924) and Memorias de Mamá Blanca (Mama Blanca’s Memoirs, 1929). She published Diario de una caraqueña por el lejano oriente (The Diary of a Woman from Caracas through the Far East) in the literary magazine Actualidades in 1920, based letters from her well-travelled sister María.
Iphigenia was controversial in Venezuela for its tone, themes and the context of the time, and De la Parra went to Paris to have it published, winning the the annual award by Casa Editora Franco-Ibero-Americana, with a prize of publication and 10,000 francs. It was a success among intellectuals and audiences and was quickly translated into French.
De la Parra was also a popular lecturer, including in Havana and Bogotá, about her views on women’s roles in American society from colonial times to the 1900s.