Juan Laurentino Ortiz

Juan Laurentino Ortiz (June 11, 1896 - September 2, 1978) was an Argentine poet, born in the town of Puerto Ruiz, Entre Ríos Province.

Although he joined some political movements, he lived mostly isolated from the cultural climate of Argentina's capital and only traveled abroad once at the invitation of the communist government of China.

'Juanele', as he began to be called in the literary circles of the Argentinian capital, published his poems of long verses in lowercase typography, taking painstaking care of every aspect of the manuscript.

The symbolism of French and Oriental poetry influenced his work, which was characterized by delicacy and a contemplative disposition which often referred to rivers, trees, floods, and the changes of the seasons without skirting the social history of his home province.

One of his well-known poems, "The Gualeguay",[2] is a narrative of both the landscape and historical and economic events that occurred on the banks of one of the rivers in the province.