Today’s Ephemeris: What Happened on February 19 | …

In February 19 ephemeris These events that happened on a day like today in Argentina and around the world stand out.

● 1896. In France, the founder of surrealism and its main theorist were born: André Breton. In 1924 he signed the Manifesto of surrealism. He defines the new trend as follows: “Pure psychic automatism by means of which one tries to express verbally, in writing or in any other way, the real functioning of thought. It is a dictation of thought, without the regulatory intervention of reason, unconscious of any aesthetic or moral concern ”. He surrounded himself with poets such as Louis Aragon and Paul Éluard. In his work stands out the autobiographical novel Nadja. He died in 1966.

● 1917. Carson McCullers was born in Columbus, Georgia. He rocked American literature with the publication of his novel The heart is a lonely hunter, in 1940. Then they would continue Reflections in a Golden Eye, Frankie and the wedding, The sad coffee ballad Yes Clock without hands. He died in 1967.

● 1937. The writer Horacio Quiroga commits suicide in Buenos Aires by ingesting cyanide. Born in Salto, Uruguay, on the last day of 1878, his life was marked by tragedy. He witnessed his stepfather’s suicide. In an accident, while cleaning weapons for a duel, he killed a friend, which led him to settle in Argentina. He settled in the missionary jungle and became the first professional writer in the country, that is to say he lived from his writings. His great stories have been compiled in Tales from the jungle and in Tales of love, madness and death. His first wife committed suicide. Suffering from cancer, he decided to kill himself. Later, his two eldest children will commit suicide.

● 1953. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was born in La Plata. He studied law at the UNLP, where he met Néstor Kirchner. They married in 1975 and settled in Río Gallegos. There she accompanied her husband’s political career, after the victory that made her mayor of Río Gallegos in 1987. She was a national deputy and later a senator. She was a member of the Upper House of Santa Cruz when her husband became president in 2003. She won the Senate of Buenos Aires in 2005, a preliminary step for her candidacy for the presidential election of 2007. The first woman elected president succeeded her husband and had to face the crisis of 125 three months after her inauguration and the electoral defeat of 2009. She was re-elected with 54% of the votes in 2011. After leaving the Rosada, she won a minority seat in the Senate representing the province of Buenos Aires. She sponsored the formation of the Frente de Todos, with Alberto Fernández as presidential candidate, in 2019. She was vice-president. They won the first round and took office in December of the same year.

● 1980. In London, Bon Scott dies of a bronchial aspiration, choking on his own vomit, after consuming alcohol. The AC / DC singer was 33 and was born in Scotland. He sang in various groups before joining the group Young Brothers, of which he was his voice since the first album of 1974, High tension. At the time of his death he recorded Back in black with the group. Brian Johnson replaced him as a singer and the album is the bestseller in history, only surpassed byPolar by Michael Jackson.

● 2008. After nearly half a century in power, Fidel Castro announces that he will step down from Cuba’s presidency and command of the armed forces. He does this by letter, in which he claims that he is not in physical shape to face his responsibilities and that he will remain deputy and first secretary of the Communist Party. In fact, he retired due to health concerns in July 2006, after his visit to Argentina for the Mercosur summit. A few days later, his brother Raúl was made official as his successor.

● 2016. Umberto Eco dies in Milan at the age of 84. One of the most important semiologists, he left works such Open work, Apocalyptic and integrated, How do you write a thesis, Reader in the tale and the Treatise on general semiotics. In 1980, he embarked on fiction with his novel The name of the rose, which became a worldwide bestseller based on his proposal for a mystery novel set in the Middle Ages. Then other novels followed: Foucault pendulum, The island of the day before, Baudolino, The mysterious flame by Reina Loana, Prague cemetery Yes Number zero. He received the Prince of Asturias Prize for Communication and Human Sciences in 2000.