Inés Echeverría (Iris)

Inés Echeverría Bello (Santiago, 22/12/1868 – Santiago, 13/01/1949), also known as Iris, was a Chilean cultural writer of the early 20th century. Her opinion articles on literature, art, and society, among other subjects, appeared in the main newspapers and magazines of the time, such as Zig-Zag, La Familia, Revista Azul, La Silueta, Pacífico Magazine, El Mercurio and La Nación.

Echeverría demonstrated her commitment to Chilean society and politics, as from her privileged position, she tried to vindicate women’s rights through publications and conferences. She also became involved in organisations aimed at improving education, encouraging reading and promoting the emancipation of women. She was a member of the Club de Señoras de Santiago, founded by Delia Matte de Izquierdo, and of the Círculo de Lectura, set up by Amanda Labarca. In her house, she held literary gatherings attended by the intellectual elite of the time, such as Mariana Cox Méndez, Hernán Díaz Arrieta, Teresa Prats, Mariano Latorre, and Vera Zouroff, among others.

The fact that her daughter Rebeca Larraín Echeverría was murdered on 30 June 1933 by her husband, Roberto Barceló Lira, prompted Echeverría to make gender violence visible and demand justice. In the context of a macho society where women were objectified as the property of their husbands and impunity was a constant, Echeverría managed to mobilise her network and publish a book of denunciation entitled Por él (Santiago: Imprenta Universitaria, 1934), which, in addition to causing a great stir in Chilean society, resulted in condemnation.

Echeverría became an academic at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Chile in 1922, becoming the first woman to obtain this title. Between 1988 and 1914, she travelled repeatedly to Europe, where she established contact with various literary personalities and learned about the culture. The result of one of these trips was the publication:

I. Echeverría: Entre dos siglos (Santiago de Chile: Ediciones Ercilla, 1937)

REWIND studies this travel diary as a documentary source on European cultural heritage before the transformations caused by the wars of the first half of the 20th century.

Here are some bibliographical references in case you would like to learn more about Isabel Echeverría:

• Amaro Castro, Lorena (2013) “Encuadres de la memoria: Cartografías y genealogías en los textos de Martina Barros e Inés Echeverría”, Anales de Literatura Chilena, 19 (14): 137-157
• Arre Marfull, Montserrat (2020): “Inés Echeverría Bello/Héctor Bello: alter ego y escritura femenina chilena en la tercera parte de la serie histórico/memorialística Alborada (1943-1946)”, Letras (Lima), 134 (91): 30-47.
• Arre Marfull, Montserrat (2020): “Mujer, clase e historia nacional a través de una lectura independiente de paratextos literarios en la obra “Alborada” de Iris (1930-1946)”, Vorágine: Revista Interdisciplinaria de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, 2 (3): 78-100.
• Echeverría, Mónica (1996): Agonía de una irreverente (Santiago de Chile: Sudamericana).
• Espinosa Hernández, Patricia (2007): “La subjetividad nómade de Inés Echeverría Bello: Entre dos Siglos (Diario Íntimo)”, Inti: Revista de Literatura Hispánica, 65: 133-151.
• Garabano, Sandra (2016): “Subjetividad, bilingüismo y nación en las ‘Memorias’ de Inés Echeverría Bello”. Letras Femeninas, 2 (36): 109-121.
• Hurtado, María de la Luz (2008): “Escribir como mujer en los albores del siglo XX: construcción de identidades de género y nación en la crítica de Inés Echeverría (Iris) a las puestas en escena de teatro moderno de compañías europeas en Chile”, Revista Aisthesis, 44: 11-52.