Rafael Maya was a poet, journalist, essayist, writer, critic, lawyer and Colombian diplomat.
He was born in Popayán on 21 March 1897 and died in Bogotá on 22 July 1980. He began his literary training under the tutelage of the father, educator and man of letters, and studied at the Minor seminary in Popayán, by the Lazarist priests。 In 1914 he joined the University of Cauca to finish his secondary studies and begin the legal career。 By the meanwhile, Maya was already known as a poet。