Maria Leonor Madinya

María Leonor Madinyá Andrade (15 February 1936 – 7 September 2006) was an Ecuadorian poet and radio presenter. Her deeply introspective, sonnet-driven poetry – noted for its emotional depth and spiritual themes – made her a respected voice in 20th-century Ecuadorian literature.^[1] Despite losing her sight in early adulthood, she mastered Braille and continued writing and advocating for the blind.^[1] Her best-known works include the poetry collections Palpitar de un sueño (1966) and Ventana del Alba (1968), and she hosted the long-running radio program Música y Poesía, which brought poetry to the public for over two decades.^[2]

María Leonor was born in Guayaquil on February 15, 1936.^[1] She was the daughter of teacher Eloy Madinyá Veintimilla and Adelaida Andrade Valero, both natives of Guayaquil.^[2] Her parents separated shortly after her birth, and she was raised by her mother, who later remarried Víctor Manuel Herrera Pérez, a man who taught young María Leonor her first letters.^[2] A precocious student, by age seven she was admitted directly into second grade at the Escuela José Mejía Lequerica in Guayaquil.^[2]

María Leonor came from a distinguished Guayaquil family. Through her Madinyá and Lascano Bahamonde lineage she was related to prominent figures of the late 19th century. Her great-grandfather on her father’s side was Antonio Madinya Vilasendra (1837–1920), a wealthy merchant in Guayaquil. In addition, she was a great-grandniece of Dr. Alejo Lascano Bahamonde (1840–1904), the pioneering Guayaquileño surgeon who founded the city’s medical faculty.^[2] These family roots in Guayaquil’s cultural elite were noted in biographical accounts of her life.

She was known from childhood as quiet and sensitive. Biographers note that even as a child she felt “melancholic,” preferring to be alone and showing an early love of nature.^[1] At age eleven, on a visit to her uncle’s farm in Salitre, she later recalled being inspired under a tree and “imagining the leaves conversing,” which sparked her first poems.^[1] This early introspection and connection to nature became characteristic of her poetic style.

After completing secondary school in 1953, María Leonor suffered a serious accident. While visiting family at Milagro, she fell into an uncovered sewer hole, sustaining a head injury.^[1] Although she survived, the accident led to progressive vision loss. By 1958 she had become completely blind.^[1] She “lost the sight of her right eye” shortly after the fall, and in the following years her remaining vision faded until total blindness.^[2]

The sudden blindness deeply affected her. She spent about two years in depression and seclusion, grieving the loss of her sight.^[1] Hearing her mother weep outside her door motivated her to seek hope again.^[2] Around 1959 she resolved to adapt to her condition and began learning Braille. A friend arranged for her to study Braille with local teachers: first with Matías Alcívar Franco, then with Byron Eguiguren Ordoñez.^[2] In 1959 she enrolled in Guayaquil’s Escuela Municipal de Ciegos (Municipal School for the Blind), where she studied for four years.^[1] During this period her mother and niece frequently read aloud to her, which kept her connected to literature despite her disability.^[2]

Her literary career began shortly after she recovered from depression. In 1960 she befriended noted poet Francisco Pérez Febres-Cordero, who read one of her sonnets and helped publish it in the El Universo newspaper’s literary supplement.^[2] This brought her immediate notice as a poet. Her work – characterized by romantic melancholy and perfect sonnet form – quickly attracted admiration in Guayaquil’s literary circles.^[1]

In 1962 she launched a weekly radio program called Música y Poesía on Radio Cristal in Guayaquil (later continuing on Radio Cenit).^[2] On this one-hour cultural show she recited her own poems and readings by others, often accompanied by music. The program became extremely popular and ran for many years, making her a well-known cultural figure.^[2]

She also published several books of verse. Encouraged by poet Aurora Estrada, she issued her first collection Palpitar de un sueño in 1966.^[2] Two years later she published Ventana del Alba (1968), which earned the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education Award.^[2] In 1974 she released her third collection, Dialogar íntimo. She also co-authored a small anthology Pórtico entre dos almas (1970) with Dr. Gonzalo Medina Murillo.^[2] In addition to her poetry, she penned the lyrics to the pasillo “Ansias de amor,” composed by Ecuadorian musician Nicasio Safadi.^[1]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s María Leonor was active in the Renacimiento literary review and various cultural organizations. Critics described her as one of the country’s leading female sonnet writers, and her poems appeared frequently in newspapers and anthologies.^[2]

María Leonor became a prominent advocate for the blind. After mastering Braille and resuming her literary pursuits, she worked to promote education and culture for the visually impaired.^[1] Starting in 1976 she expanded her own training: she received a scholarship to study at the Instituto de Ciegos “Luis Braille” in Lima, Peru.^[2] There she took courses in tiflología (educational methods for blindness) and clinical psychology, while also giving poetry recitals across Peru.^[2] She lived intermittently in Lima from 1976 until 1983, combining her studies with cultural outreach as a “pedagoga y poetisa” for the blind.^[2]

She also gave talks and lessons on Braille back in Ecuador. Contemporary accounts note that she often read her poems to blind audiences and taught Braille in local schools for the blind.^[1] Her own persistence in learning Braille and completing higher studies was often cited as an example for others to emulate.^[1]

In her later years María Leonor returned to Ecuador after her time in Peru and settled again in Guayaquil. She continued writing and broadcasting, and was recognized as one of Ecuador’s most celebrated contemporary poets.^[1] She was reportedly working on a fifth volume, tentatively titled Arias del Corazón, containing poems written after the death of her mother. However, she was unable to complete it due to declining health.^[2]

Although her parents had separated when she was a baby, her father, Eloy Madinyá Veintimilla, continued to provide financial support during her upbringing.^[2]

María Leonor never married and had no children. In her later life, she was cared for by her paternal half-brothers, **Eduardo Madinyá Balladares** and **Eloy Madinyá Dolz**, who provided support and assistance during her final years.^[2]

María Leonor Madinyá Andrade died on September 7, 2006, in Guayaquil, at the age of 70, from a cardiac arrest.^[1] Her passing was noted with tributes in the press: El Universo ran a remembrance column praising her as a “lady of utmost simplicity and transparency” who had “always been ready to open her generous hands” to others.^[2]

María Leonor Madinyá Andrade left a lasting legacy in Ecuadorian literature and culture. Her three published collections secured her reputation as one of the country’s finest sonneteers. Ventana del Alba (1968) won the national Ministry of Education prize, and she was invited as a delegate of Guayas province to major literary events such as the First Congress of Women in Quito.^[2] Her poems remain anthologized in surveys of 20th-century Ecuadorian poetry.^[2]

Beyond her writing, she is remembered for breaking barriers as a blind writer. Biographers note that she became “a living example” for others with disabilities.^[2] The radio programmes she led, especially Música y Poesía, paved the way for more cultural radio in Guayaquil.^[2] Schools for the blind and literary groups in Guayaquil continue to cite her story when encouraging perseverance and creativity.

• Ecuadorian Ministry of Education Award (1968, for Ventana del Alba)
• Delegate of Guayas to the First Congress of Women in Quito (1969)
• Poems featured in national anthologies and literary dictionaries

• Palpitar de un sueño (1966)
• Ventana del Alba (1968)
• Dialogar íntimo (1974)
• Pórtico entre dos almas (1970, with Gonzalo Medina Murillo)
• Arias del Corazón (unpublished)