Gangotena moved to Paris at the age of 16 to complete his education, eventually earning a mining engineering degree to fulfill his father's last wishes.

In Paris, Jules Supervielle, Max Jacob and Jean Cocteau, with whom he had strong ties of friendship, encouraged him to publish his poetry.

The group included the Chilean Vicente Huidobro, the Peruvian César Vallejo, and his fellow Ecuadorian Jorge Carrera Andrade.

Although a native Spanish speaker, Gangotena managed to dominate the French language so well, that in 1922 the painter Max Jacob sent him a letter after reading one of his poems in a literary magazine, in which he wrote: "The Holy Spirit has blessed you.

Some of his poetry was also translated into Spanish by Gonzalo Escudero and Filoteo Samaniego for the book Poesía (1956; published by Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana).