Blanca Subercaseaux de Valdés

Blanca Subercaseaux de Valdés (née Subercaseaux Errázuriz; c. 1885–c. 1887 – 1965^[1][2]), known by the pen name Carmen Valle, was a Chilean writer and artist.^[3][4]

Biography

Blanca Subercaseaux Errázuriz was born in either 1885 or 1887 in Chile to Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña, a painter, politician and diplomat, and Amalia Errázuriz de Subercaseaux (née Errázuriz Urmeneta), a writer and the founder of the Chilean Ladies League.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Through her father Subercaseaux was a member of the Subercaseaux family, and was the granddaughter of the politician and businessperson Ramón Subercaseaux Mercado.^[5][10] Through her mother Subercaseaux was a member of the Errázuriz family, and was the granddaughter of Maximiano Errázuriz Valdivieso,^[5] and the niece of José Tomás Errázuriz and Eugenia Errázuriz. One of ten siblings, Subercaseaux was the sister of Pedro Subercaseaux, Luis Subercaseaux and Juan Subercaseaux.^[6][7][11]

In the 1890s the family lived in Paris before returning to Chile.^[5] In 1892, Subercaseaux and her sister Rosaria were the subjects of A Portrait of the Daughters of Ramón Subercaseaux by Anders Zorn.^[12] From 1898 to 1903 the family lived in Berlin.^[5][6]

Career

Subercaseaux primarily wrote Catholic devotional literature and biographies. In 1929, Subercaseaux wrote the latin libretto for Marta Canales' "Marta y María".^[13] The same year Subercaseaux and her family moved to Italy before later returning to Chile.^[14]

In 1935, Subercaseaux was the Honorary General President for the Consejo de las Marías de los Sagrarios.^[15]

In August 1947, Subercaseaux exhibited a series of watercolours alongside her son Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux.^[16]

Personal life

In September 1906, Subercaseaux married Horacio Valdés Ortúzar, an engineer.^[17][3][14] Valdés and Subercaseaux had 5 children including Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux and Gabriel Valdés.^[18][19]

A friend of Gabriela Mistral, the poems "Message to Blanca" (Spanish: Encargo a Blanca) and "Blessings" (Spanish: Bendiciones; 1924) are dedicated to Subercaseaux.^[4][20][21]

Subercaseaux died in August 1965.^[1][22]