Julio Herrera y Reissig (January 9, 1875 – March 18, 1910) was a Uruguayan poet, playwright and essayist, who began his career during the late Romanticist period and later became an early proponent of Modernism. Background He was the son of Dr. Manuel Herrera y Obes and nephew of government minister Dr. Julio Herrera y Obes, who would go on to become president of Uruguay. Julio Herrera y Reissig was born in Montevideo into a wealthy patrician family with connections to the social and cultural scene. Health and travel His only material limitation was his precarious health. In 1892, at age seventeen, a congenital heart defect, aggravated by typhoid fever, forced him to abandon his studies. Nor was he able to travel any great distance, and apart from a visit to Buenos Aires, he remained confined to Montevideo and the Uruguayan interior, including Castillo Piriá, near Piriápolis, where a plaque was unveiled in 1957 commemorating his residence there. Writings He relieved his boredom by becoming an avid reader, and beginning in 1900, he began holding literary gatherings at his...