Claudia Lars

Margarita del Carmen Brannon Vega was born in Armenia, Sonsonate, on December 20, 1899, the daughter of an American engineer and a Salvadoran mother. Encouraged in her teenage years by mentor Alberto Masferrer, she adopted the pen name Claudia Lars.

With poetic collections including Estrellas en el pozo (1934), Canción redonda, and her prose memoir Tierra de infancia (1958), Lars created an enchanted universe of tropical flora, childhood wonder, and profound feminine emotional depth. Serving as cultural attaché and editor of the magazine Cultura, she was awarded the National Prize of Culture.