Ricardo Jaimes Freyre

Ricardo Jaimes Freyre was born on May 12, 1868, in Tacna (then Bolivian territory), the son of Bolivian diplomat and writer Julio Lucas Jaimes. Settling in Buenos Aires, he struck up a legendary friendship and artistic alliance with Rubén Darío, co-founding the groundbreaking literary journal Revista de América in 1894.

His 1899 poetry collection, Castalia bárbara, introduced Norse mythological motifs, innovative metric free rhythms, and haunting symbolist atmospheres into the Spanish language. He later taught philosophy and literature in Tucumán for over two decades, authored authoritative works on Spanish poetic versification, and represented Bolivia as ambassador to Washington and Brazil.