Rubén Darío Day in Nicaragua Date in the current year: January 18, 2026

Rubén Darío was born Félix Rubén García Sarmiento on January 18, 1867. He was raised by his mother’s aunt and uncle in León and rarely spoke with his biological parents. Although his legal last name was García, his paternal family had used the last name Darío for years, and Rubén eventually started using it as well.

There is little information about Darío’s childhood, but it is known that he began writing poetry at an early age. His first poem was published in a newspaper when he was 13. Despite his youth, Darío expressed his political opinions in his writings, including criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church.

At age 14, Darío moved to Managua, where he worked as a journalist. In 1882, he traveled to El Salvador, where he met the prominent writer Francisco Gavidia, who significantly influenced Darío’s poetry. Over the next few years, Darío traveled to Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica, occasionally returning to Nicaragua. He also spent several years in Europe (Spain and France) during his later life.

Throughout his adult life, Darío worked extensively as a journalist, relying on it as his primary source of income. He also held multiple diplomatic appointments, serving in various consular and representative roles. However, he is best remembered as a prominent poet. He was very versatile, writing in more than 130 stanza forms and 37 meters. What made him truly special was that his poetry was influential in both Latin America and Spain, impacting an entire generation of Spanish poets at the turn of the 20th century.

Darío’s collection of short stories and poetry titled Azul..., first published in 1888, is considered the first major work of the modernismo literary movement, which flourished in the Hispanic world during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modernismo was characterized by a conscious break from reality and a focus on rich imagery, beauty, musicality, and refined language. Darío and other notable modernismo exponents drew inspiration from French poetry, especially Parnassianism, as well as from Roman and Greek mythology.

Despite living a relatively short life – he died at 49 due to health issues linked to alcohol abuse – Darío profoundly influenced Spanish-language literature, reshaping Spanish-language poetry and establishing Latin American literature as a major global presence. Some scholars consider him the first major poet of the modern era of Spanish-language poetry.

Rubén Darío Day was added to Nicaragua’s holiday calendar in 2026, when it was expanded to commemorate important figures in the country’s history and to create more paid rest days. It was one of four new public holidays added to the calendar; the other three honor Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo on February 2, revolutionary Augusto César Sandino on February 21, and revolutionary Carlos Fonseca Amador on November 8.