Central American feminist author Victoria Eugenia Urbano was born June 4, 1926 in San José, Costa Rica to Victor Urbano and Aida Pérez Urbano. Urbano began to show a passion for writing at an early age and went on to compose and publish numerous works of poetry, essays, short stories, articles, and plays throughout her lifetime.
As a girl at the Escuela República Argentina in San José, Urbano won the Premio José Arce in 1940 for her composition about Argentine national heroes. Four years later, she started
In 1952 Victoria Urbano moved to Madrid to study dramatic writing at Spain's Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático. There she wrote several plays that were produced in Madrid and well reviewed, including
Urbano accepted a teaching position at Lamar University in Beaumont, Tex and returned to the U.S. in 1966. She was a primarily a professor of Spanish language, but also taught Spanish literature and Italian. She was active in numerous campus committees, activities, and professional organizations, including the Lamar Spanish Circle, the Lamar Italian Circle, the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, the American Association of University Professors, the Pan American Round Table, and the South Central Modern Language Association. Urbano was named a lifetime Regents' Professor in 1972 for her outstanding work in research and instruction. She also received several awards from the Lamar Research Center, and with those grants wrote literary criticism on Central American and Spanish theatre, Chaucer's Woman of Bath, Yolanda Oreamuno, and Clarice Lispector. Dr. Urbano remained at Lamar University until her death in 1984.
Throughout her career Victoria Urbano received many international prizes and honors for her writing and leadership, including the title of Vice-Consul of Costa Rica in Texas and the Ribbon of Honor of Spain. She was also awarded the Premio Cultura Hispánica on History for her book
In 1974 Dr. Urbano founded the professional organization Asociación de Literatura Femenina Hispánica (ALFH) and its literary journal
The collection is comprised of the personal papers of Costa Rican author, poet, and university professor Victoria E. Urbano. Materials date from 1940 to 1986 and measure 17.5 linear feet. The collection is arranged into eight series: Personal and Biographical, Employment, Correspondence, Conferences and Speaking Engagements, Written Works, Asociación de Literatura Femenina Hispánica, Audiovisual Materials, and Oversize Materials.
The first series, Personal and Biographical, is divided into seven subseries and consists of material types such as clippings, programs, notes, interviews, correspondence, printed materials, and photographs. There are items relating to Urbano's education from primary school through university studies. Also included are awards and honors she had received throughout her career, perhaps the most well-known being the Premio Internacional León Felipe of Mexico. In addition, this series contains entries about Urbano from biographical directories, publicity items about her, and varied collected materials. Finally, there are posthumous materials collected about her death in 1984 as well as scrapbooks Urbano had compiled of various items from throughout her life.
Series two, Employment, includes a few materials relating Urbano's job at Connell Bros. Company in San Francisco. However, the bulk of this series is made up of her files from the many years she was a professor at Lamar University. These materials consist of letters and memos from university faculty, staff, and students, as well as printed materials, forms, research notes, clippings, lesson plans, and other items relating to Urbano's courses, committees, and projects.
Correspondence, the third series, contains letters to and from various organizations, publications, and presses, as well as faculty at numerous universities. It is arranged alphabetically by correspondent or the entity which he or she represents.
The fourth series, Conferences and Speaking Engagements, is comprised of clippings, written speeches, photographs, and printed materials from and about various events at which Urbano gave talks, presented papers, or participated in some way. The items in this series are arranged alphabetically, usually by the name of the organization hosting each event.
Series five, Written Works, includes drafts, printed articles, correspondence, clippings, and several published monographs. Various types of literature written by Urbano throughout her career exist in this series along with publicity and critiques of these works. Written Works is divided into different subseries by literary format, including: Articles, Poetry and Prose, Short Shories, Travel Impressions, and Monographs. Each subseries in arranged alpahabetically by title or subject of the work.
The sixth series contains the records of the professional organization Victoria Urbano founded in 1974 and directed until her death in 1984. The Asociación de Literatura Femenina Hispánica materials include newsletters and other printed materials, clippings, programs, forms, and letters. The organization's records are divided into the following subseries: Administrative, Financial, Publications, Meetings, and Correspondence/Member Files. The Correspondence/Member Files are the bulk of the series and are arranged alphabetically by member name.
The Audiovisual Materials in series seven include audiotapes and audiocassettes of Urbano reciting poetry and giving readings of her works, as well as presentations and acceptance speeches. There is also an analog video recording relating to her winning the Premio León Felipe in 1969.
Finally, the eighth series houses Oversize Materials. It consists of items that were separated from their original series because of size. These materials inlcude four issues of
The collection is arranged into eight series: Personal and Biographical, Employment, Correspondence, Conferences and Speaking Engagements, Written Works, Asociación de Literatura Femenina Hispánica, Audiovisual Materials, and Oversize Materials.
Unrestricted.
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Cite as: Victoria Urbano Papers, Benson Latin American Collection, the University of Texas at Austin Libraries.
The Victoria Urbano Papers are cataloged under the following Subject Headings in the University of Texas Libraries' catalog:
Urbano's collection of
Publication of a letter written by León Felipe in 1955.
Periodical contains various articles and photos meant as an homage to León Felipe after his death in September of 1968.
Various mentions relating to Urbano's writings, awards, and activities from her collection of the journal.
Short critiques on Urbano's writing.
Various mentions relating to Urbano's writings, awards, and activities from her collection of the newsletter.
Includes itineraries and notes.
Poem for which Urbano won an international poetry contest of the Givre Foundation of Buenos Aires.
Series of short prose published in San Fransisco newspaper.
Drama performed at the Teatro Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid on June 2, 1953.
Comedy performed at the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica in Madrid on May 14, 1954.
Collection of short shories for which Urbano won the "León Felipe" international literary prize in 1969: "Muerte in Mallorca," "La Isla de Avery," "El Fornicador," "Un Amor en Gandía," "El Rostro," and "Con la vida puesta." Materials relating to the individual stories exist in the subseries Short Stories.
An article about D'Acosta in the Mexican magazine
Represented and publicized the ALFH in Latin American.
This recording has been digitized and exists on a CD (along with audiocassette no. 10) in this same box.
This recording has been digitized and exists on a CD (along with audiotape no.1) in box 32.
Articles about Urbano winning the Premio León Felipe.
Supplement to
Contains article about Mexican journalist Helia D'Acosta.
Separated from materials on Vice-Consul of Costa Rica.