Teresa Lamas de Rodríguez Alcalá

Teresa Lamas Carísimo de Rodríguez Alcalá (1887 – 1976) was a Paraguayan author, writing primarily in the genre of costumbrismo.^[1] Her book Tradiciones del hogar was the first novel written by a woman in Paraguay.^[2][3]

Biography

Lamas Carísimo was born in Asunción, Paraguay, in 1887,^[4] although her birth year is sometimes reported as being 1889.^[5] Her parents were Vicente Lamas and Clementina Carísimo,^[5] members of the local colonial elite.^[6] She received a public education^[5] and began writing at a young age; in 1919, she won first prize in a national story-writing contest.^[4]

She published Tradiciones del hogar, a collection of vignettes on family life and nationalist themes in the style known as costumbrista or tradición, in 1921.^[7][8] It was well received by the literary community^[9] and was important to the country's national mythmaking after the Paraguayan War.^[10] Tradiciones de hogar was followed with a second volume in 1928. She published two later works in the 1940s and '50s: Huerto de Odios and La casa y tu sombra.^[4] She also contributed to various newspapers.^[11]

Lamas Carísimo was also known for her philanthropic work; she co-founded the National Association of Charitable Dames, an anti-tuberculosis organization, in 1918 and was a member of the local Red Cross.^[5][11]

Selected works

• Tradiciones del hogar, Volume I (1921)
• Tradiciones del hogar, Volume II (1928)
• Huerto de Odios (1944)
• La casa y su sombra (1955)