I, unfortunately, had not, but am glad to come out of my own ignorance and discover her work. Following La Mala’s theme of highlighting exceptional mujeres, I found this little gem on Regalado blog out of Cuba (thanks, special friend, for sharing your 14,000 obscure Latino feeds with me — you know who you are). Translated for your reading pleasure:

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda was blocked from entering the Real Academia Española. She is considered a precursor to modern feminism, as much for her vibrant attitude as for the strength that she gave her female literary characters.

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814-1873), a Cuban born writer that lived in Spain from age 22, is considered one othe most authentics voices of Latino romanticism.

Her life was a cumulus of tragedies comparable only to those of her characters. The death of her father and the rushed re-marriage of her mother drove her out of Cuba to Europe, where she came into contact with the romance literature of the time; Victor Hugo, Chateaubriand and Lord Byron.

From Wikipedia:

The most controversial novel she wrote, Sab, was published in 1841. This novel can be compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin in that both it and Sab are literary protests against the practice of slavery. It is about a Cuban slave in love with a white woman, who in turn marries a white Englishman. The book stresses the slave’s moral superiority over the white characters.

La Tula began writing at age eight, and her body of work covers various literary genres, including poetry, novels and theatre.

La Tula official web site (from Cuba, in Spanish)

La Tula on Wikipedia (English)

Article about La Tula’s life (in Spanish)

Via / regalado.blogia.com