Valentín

My hero is called Valentín. He was my great grandfather. He was a very perseverant person because he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted, until he got out of poverty. That thought gave him strength to go on. He was a smart person, too, because of the many acts I will write about further on in my essay.

Valentìn is my grandmother’s father, and she is my father’s mother. He lived in Russia, in a very poor town. At the age of 13, his father sent him to get wood in a forest in -20ºC and gave him an onion inside bread for lunch and dinner. He was the second brother born in a family of nine. One day he decided to escape, because his life was so hard. He left when he was 13 years old with his brother, who was two years older. They both went on foot all the way through Poland, Germany, and France to Italy. In Italy Valentin had to raise money to pay for a ticket to Argentina. He had the intelligent idea of painting houses, because he didn’t speak the language. He kept working like that for two years, until he finally came here, where he married twice. He had two daughters and worked on a French duchess’ farm until he was made a counter and had a very nice life.

I think he made a real difference because, if he hadn't done that, I wouldn’t even exist! He was a very calm person because he thought clearly, although he was in a country where he couldn’t speak a word of the language. I would have been desperate.

I would compare him with Timothy in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, a book we read in class, because he was a thoughtful person, even when he was about to die. I think he was a “Survivor Hero” because he helped his family survive by bringing them to Argentina, one by one.

In the end, I would say he was a perseverant, smart, and calm person, who made a long journey across Europe, inspired by his desire to escape poverty.