Late Mexican poet Ramón López Velarde was honored as the featured Google Doodle on the website’s homepage on Thursday (July 27).
López Velarde was known as the father of modern Mexican poetry. He was born in Jerez, Zacatecas, and would initially pursue a career in law before turning to poetry. López Velarde died in 1921 at the age of 33.
Google paid tribute to López Velarde on Thursday because it marked the anniversary of the last issue published by the Pegaso, a newspaper López Velarde co-founded in 1917.
The Google Doodle was created by Mexican artist and illustrator, Ale De la Torre. It features López Velarde writing in nature and includes dahlias (the national flower of Mexico), nopales, a human heart, a Mexican woodpecker, and hummingbirds. The artist was inspired by López Velarde’s “idea of love, Mexican natural elements, and the concept of duality represented in his work,” she said.
De la Torre said the project was important to her because of the strides López Velarde took in the art world. “Ramón … laid the foundation for contemporary poetry in Mexico, the dissemination of Mexican artistic work, and the importance of poetry for human life,” she added.
Ramón López Velarde’s first published book was La Sangre Devota (The Pious Blood), which described the differences between life in the city and the country. Some of his most well-known work includes the book Zozobra, which was published in 1919, and the poem, “La suave patria.”