Raúl Gómez Jattin
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31 May 1945
Raúl Gómez Jattin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Raúl del Cristi Gómez Jattin 31 May 1945 Cartagena, Colombia, Colombia |
| Died | 22 May 1997 (aged 51) Cartagena, Colombia, Colombia |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | Colombian |
Raúl del Cristi Gómez Jattin (31 May 1945 – 22 May 1997) was an influential Colombian poet.
Gómez Jattin was born in Cartagena, Colombia, to journalist Joaquín Pablo Gómez Reynero and Lola Jattin. His mother was of Syrian ancestry.[1] He spent most of his childhood in the town of Cereté, and then sent to his maternal grandmother in Cartagena, where he finished his secondary education.[2][3] His father possessed a large library, and Gómez Jattin, confined at home by his asthma, became an avid reader from a very young age. After spending a few years as a secondary education teacher in Cereté, he moved to Bogota, in 1964, to obtain a degree in law from Universidad Externado, under pressure by his father. It was in this university where he first came into contact with theatre, becoming part of the university's experimental theatre group, and where he started to write poetry first.
He went back to Cereté without finishing his studies, at a time where the death of his father triggered the first of many psychotic episodes that would afflict him for the rest of his life. He was diagnosed with manic-depression and schizophrenia. At this time he also started consuming illicit drugs. He spent his time between psychiatric institutions and living in the streets. He moved later to Cartagena, where the cycle of psychiatric admissions and homelessness continued, in addition to some time spent in jail.
In the middle of what was assumed to be a psychotic episode, Gómez Jattin jumped to death in front of a running bus on May 22, 1997. It has never been clear whether his death was accidental or a suicide.
He was a distant relative and close friend of journalist and writer Juan Gossaín when they both studied in the same school in Cartagena.
