Alfonsina Storni was one of the most important Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

-American

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 poets of the modernist period.
Storni was born in Sala Capriasca

Sala Capriasca

Sala Capriasca is a village and former municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland.In 2001 the municipality was merged with the other, neighboring municipalities Cagiallo, Lopagno, Roveredo, Tesserete and Vaglio to form a new and larger municipality Capriasca.-History:Sala Capriasca is first...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 to an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 beer industrialist living in Switzerland for a few years. There, Storni learned to speak Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

. Following the failure of the family business, they opened a tavern in the city of Rosario

Rosario

Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....

, Argentina, where Storni worked at a variety of chores.

In 1907, she joined a traveling theatre company which took her around the country.