Augusto Céspedes

In thisSpanish name,the first or paternalsurnameisCéspedesand the second or maternal family name isPatzi.

Augusto Céspedes
Augusto Céspedes with aCapuchin monkey
Secretary-General of the Junta
In office 20 December 1943 – 11 February 1944
President	Gualberto Villarroel
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Wálter Guevara
Deputyof theNational Convention
In office 23 May 1938 – 24 April 1939
Constituency	Cochabamba
Personal details
Born	Augusto Céspedes Patzi (1903-02-06)6 February 1903 Cochabamba,Bolivia
Died	11 May 1997(1997-05-11)(aged 94) La Paz,Bolivia
Political party	Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Spouse	Matilde Garvía
Parent(s)	Pablo Céspedes Adriana Patzi Iturri
Alma mater	Higher University of San Andrés

Augusto Céspedes Patzi(6 February 1904,Cochabamba– 9 May 1997,La Paz) was aBolivianwriter, politician, diplomat, and journalist. He was the brother-in-law of writerCarlos Montenegro.

Career

Céspedes studied law and received his degree in La Paz.

In 1927, he was a founder of the Nationalist Party. He was a leader in theRevolutionary Nationalist Movement(MNR).

He worked as a journalist on the front in theChaco War,writing for the newspaperEl Universal.He made use of his experiences on the front lines to write the stories in his 1936 collection,Sangre de Mestizos,which included his frequently anthologized short story,El Bozo.His non-fiction reports were compiled and published in the bookCrónicas heroicas de una guerra estúpida,published in 1975. He also founded the MNR dailyLa Calle,directed the newspaperLa Naciónin La Paz and had an important role in Bolivian literature; he wrote various biographies of presidents such asDaniel Salamanca,Germán Busch Becerra,andGualberto Villarroel.Among his many other stories and novels,Metal del Diablo,a fictionalized portrait of the tin tycoon,Simón I. Patiñohas probably been the most successful.

He was a noted politician, serving as a deputy in Bolivian legislatures (three times:1938,1944, and 1956), and in diplomatic offices. He served as Bolivia'sAmbassadortoParaguayin 1945, and toItalyin 1953, and distinguished himself as Ambassador toUNESCO.

Selected Works

• 1936:Sangre de Mestizos(short stories)
• 1946:Metal del diablo(novel)
• 1956:El dictador suicida(history)
• 1966:El presidente colgado(history)
• 1968:Trópico enamorado(novel)
• 1975:Crónicas heroicas de una guerra estúpida(journalism)

Awards

• 1957: National Literature Prize

External links

• "Augusto Céspedes o la pasión de narrar"Archived25 December 2010 at theWayback MachineporJaime Iturri Salmón.
• Biografía de Céspedes
• Polémica entre Jorge Abelardo Ramos, Augusto Céspedes, Guillermo Lora y Antezana E.