A sickly child, Lezama Lima passed the time reading. At 27, he published his first work, the poem Death of Narcissus, which brought him national acclaim. In he earned a law degree, but chose instead to pursue his true passion, literature. His favor was short lived.
Instead he enjoyed a series of discreet gay relationships. Around this time the Cuban socialist regime was conducting systematic purges of gay people whose conduct was considered contrary to the revolutionary morals. When Lezama Lima published his masterpiece, the semi autobiographical novel Paradiso , the book was internationally considered a classic.
Though never imprisoned, he clearly was out of favor with the government. Although he left his native Cuba only twice in his lifetime, his poetry, essays, and novels draw their concepts from a variety of cultures and historical periods, all accessed through his beloved personal library of over ten thousand books.
Jose Lezama Lima died in on August 9, at age At the time of his death, he had been working on a book that was the continuation of Paradiso. The manuscript was published posthumously as Oppiano Licario in He is considered one of the key influences in subsequent generations of Latin American writers. Sexual Orientation Gay. Gender Identity Cisgender. Nations Affiliated Cuba. Resources Related People. Related Images. Related Resources. Authorship Original Biography Author.
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