Jorge Artel
Agapito de Arcos, known by his pseudonym Jorge Artel, was a Colombian writer, journalist, novelist, and literary critic. His work is notable for its exaltation of Afro-Colombian identity and its representation of Caribbean life and culture.
Biography
Early life
Artel was born in Cartagena de Indias, near the Plaza de la Trinidad, the son of Miguel de Arcos Orozco and Aurora Coneo. He was raised in an intellectual household, heavily influenced by his aunts, Carmen and Severina de Arcos. Carmen de Arcos, the first professional nurse in Colombia with training in France and Jamaica, directed the Municipal Maternity Clinic and organized literary gatherings that shaped Artel’s early intellectual development.Education
He studied at the Instituto Politécnico de Martínez Olier, graduating with a baccalaureate in philosophy and letters. In 1945 he obtained a law degree from the Universidad de Cartagena with a thesis entitled Defensa Preventiva del Estado o el Derecho penal, which addressed issues related to Colombian popular culture. Despite completing his legal studies, he never practiced law, instead pursuing journalism, travel, and literature as his primary occupations.Professional career
Artel served as Chief of Public Instruction in the Department of Bolívar and as a police inspector in Santa Elena, a district of Medellín. From an early age, he was persecuted and imprisoned for his leftist ideals. Following the violence of the Bogotazo in 1948, he went into exile, living in Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and the United States. In Mexico, he worked as a journalist and founded the newspaper El Porvenir. In Panama, he became Director of Information and Publications at the University of Panama. In the United States, he was linked to several academic institutions, collaborated with Reader’s Digest, and served as a consultant for the United Nations.After returning from exile in 1972, Artel held academic positions in Spanish and law at Colombian universities. He later became Director of the Library of the Universidad del Atlántico and co-founded the Corporación Educativa Mayor del Desarrollo Simón Bolívar in Barranquilla. For years, he published the column Señales de humo in El Colombiano. He spent his final years between Panama and Barranquilla and died in Malambo, Atlántico, on 20 August 1994.
Works
Tambores de la noche Modalidades artísticas de la raza negra Poemas con botas y banderas Cóctel de estampa y antología poética Sinú, riberas de asombro jubiloso- ''De rigurosa etiqueta, No es la muerte... es el morir''