José Lezama Lima

José Lezama Lima (Known as "Lezama")

Novelist, Essayist, Poet, Founder of the 'Orígenes' Movement

Born 1910-12-19

Columbia Military Camp, Marianao, Havana, Cuba

Passed Away 1976-08-09 Havana, Cuba

Lifespan 65 years old

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Notice / Correction

"Only the difficult is stimulating; only the overcome impossibility brings true light to poetry."

Archival Overview

Colossal figure of 20th-century Latin American letters, master of the neo-baroque, and founder of the 'Orígenes' literary magazine whose monumental 1966 novel 'Paradiso' dazzled world literature.

Biographical Record

José Lezama Lima was born in Havana on December 19, 1910. Living quietly in his house on Trocadero Street in Old Havana, Lezama constructed an astonishing cosmos of erudition, poetry, and metaphysical speculation.

Founding the influential literary journal Orígenes in 1944, Lezama published his tour-de-force novel Paradiso in 1966. Its dense, sensual baroque imagery and complex philosophical exploration of family, knowledge, and eros placed him alongside James Joyce and Marcel Proust in world literature.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Colón Cemetery (Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón)
Havana, Cuba

                         GPS: 23.1230, -82.4010                    

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