German Arciniegas (1900-1999) was a Colombian writer, historian, essayist, politician and diplomat. His work was developed within the guidelines of the Americanist movement. The author dedicated himself to researching and writing about the history, culture, geography, art, linguistics, and anthropology of all of America..
Arciniegas' work was characterized by the use of clear and precise language and sometimes with humorous features. The writer was in charge of investigating and questioning the most momentous events in America and their incidents in the rest of the continents.
The literature of this Colombian intellectual encompassed the genres of essays, novels, chronicles, and newspaper articles. Its production reached more than six dozen books, among which the following stood out: The student of the round table, America firm, This people of America, Biography of the Caribbean, Between freedom and fear, America magic Y America in Europe.
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Germán Arciniegas Angueyra was born on December 6, 1900 in Bogotá, Colombia. The writer came from a cultured family and middle socioeconomic class. His parents were Rafael Arciniegas Tavera and Aurora Angueyra Figueredo. The author had six siblings.
The childhood of Arciniegas and his siblings was marked by the death of their father and by financial difficulties. His mother must have managed to raise her seven children.
Arciniegas attended his first years of training at the Polytechnic Institute of the Republican School in his hometown. Then he completed high school at the National School of Commerce. The young Germán became interested in literature and journalism in his student years. Around that time he put the magazines into circulation Fifth Year Y Voice of Youth.
After finishing high school in 1918, he began studying law at the National University of Colombia. In 1921 Arciniegas founded the magazine college, in which intellectuals of the stature of León de Greiff and José Vasconcelos collaborated. The publication was valid until 1931.
Arciniegas' stay at the university did not go unnoticed. He had the initiative to found the Federation of Students of Colombia inspired by the University Reform of Argentina in 1918. He was in charge of bringing together students from all over America in cultural celebrations.
The intellectual considered that young university students and the student body in general were the engines that drove the political, artistic and historical events of world society.
Germán proposed a bill to reform education, which came to life in the first presidential term (1934-1938) of Alfonso López Pumarejo.
Germán Arciniegas began to practice professionally as a writer and journalist in 1928. In that year he joined the newspaper Time. There he held various positions, including that of editorial chief, editorial coordinator and director of the Sunday publication Literary Supplement.
The intellectual was linked to the Bogota newspaper until the end of his life.
Arciniegas began his diplomatic career in 1929 when he was appointed vice consul of his country in London, England. Along with his work as an ambassador, he also dedicated himself to writing. This is how he published his first work The student at the round table in 1932.
Some time later he made known America mainland and in the early 1940s he went to Argentina to serve as ambassador. His impeccable diplomatic work led him to be Minister of Education of Colombia between 1941 and 1942. At that time he published the work The Germans in the conquest of America.
Arciniegas was a man concerned about the educational system of his country and focused on its progress. That motivated the then president Alberto Lleras to appoint him minister of education in 1945. At that time he founded the Museum of Colonial Art, the Caro y Cuervo Institute and placed the National Museum of Colombia in a more suitable space.
The life of Germán Arciniegas took a 180 degree turn with the arrival of conservative politicians to power in 1946. The writer was repeatedly threatened and had to leave his country. He settled in the United States with his wife Gabriela Vieira and their daughters Aurora and Gabriela.
The author served as a professor at Columbia University and devoted himself to writing. During that time he began to develop one of his most recognized and controversial works: Between freedom and fear which he published in 1952.
The writer returned to diplomatic work in 1959. On that date he was sent to Italy as ambassador and three years later he represented Colombia in Israel..
Arciniegas continued to develop his literature and at the beginning of the sixties he published works such as: Memoirs of a congressman, 20,000 community members to Santa Fe Y The world of the beautiful Simonetta.
After the aforementioned, Germán was a diplomat in Venezuela in 1967 and in the Holy See in 1976. The intellectual took advantage of this professional facet to work and spread the culture of the American continent. This is how he represented his country in the Colombian-Guatemalan Cultural Week (in Guatemala) in 1980..
Germán dedicated the last two decades of his life to writing and promoting the culture of Colombia and America in general. The most current works of his literary repertoire were Bolívar and the Revolution Y The ambassador: life of Guido Antonio, Amerigo Vespucci's uncle.
Germán Arciniegas died on November 30, 1999 in Bogotá at the age of ninety-eight. His remains were deposited in the Central Cemetery of the Colombian capital.
- The student at the round table (1932).
- America mainland (1937).
- The commoners (1938).
- The Germans in the conquest of America (1941).
- This town of America (1945).
- In the land of skyscrapers and carrots (1945).
- Biography of the Caribbean (1945).
- The living thought of Andrés Bello (1946).
- Between freedom and fear (1952).
- Amerigo and the New World (1955).
- Italy, a guide for homeless people (1958).
- Magic America. Men and months (1959).
- Magic America. Women and hours (1961).
- The Knight of El Dorado (1960).
- Memoirs of a congressman (1962).
- 20,000 community members to Santa Fe (1962).
- Santander's Golden Book (1962).
- Bolívar: Cartagena 1812, Santa Marta 1830 (1962).
- The world of the beautiful Simonetta (1962).
- The continent of the seven colors. History of culture in Latin America (1965).
- Colombia, itinerary and spirit of Independence (1969).
- New image of the Caribbean (1970).
- Top secret Rome (1972).
- America in Europe (1975).
- The reverse of history (1980).
- The new pines (1982).
- Simon Bolivar (1980).
- Bolívar, the man of glory (1983).
- Bolívar and the Revolution (1984).
- The ambassador: life of Guido Antonio, Amerigo Vespucci's uncle (1990).
It was one of the most controversial and censored books by Arciniegas for the sagacity with which it dealt with certain political issues. The writer focused on the feeling of fear of the people before the oppressive governments. He debated the dictatorships of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua and that of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in his country.
“In Santo Domingo or Nicaragua the dictatorships, consolidated for many years, have not allowed the formation of parties. In some cases, eminent heads of state, interpreters of the new philosophy, have declared the existence of parties incompatible with public tranquility ...
“It works, as in Russia or Spain, on the basis of the single party. Whoever is not with the government is a traitor to the homeland, a sellout as Evita Perón used to say. Europeans and Americans judge these situations - which they never analyze in the impressive reality as a whole - as resulting from the fickle and elemental character of the 'coppery', the 'natives' ... ".
This literary work by Germán Arciniegas was a critical and historical essay on the influence of America on the European continent. The author was in charge of exposing a series of events that related the two worlds, such as the discovery of America and the French Revolution..
The writer considered that the New World brought movement and development to the philosophy, culture, arts, literature and thought of Europeans. This implied a new vision of America and a detachment from the ideas that came from Europe..
“I have not been able to explain exactly the surprise of the Spaniards at the drunkenness of the Indians. Drunkards commit similar follies in all the peoples of the earth ...
"He who has grapes on hand, squeezes the grapes and makes the wine ferment in the skins ... I do not know if the people who have not gotten drunk were born. Or whoever has not taken the opportunity of a religious festival to sink his spirit into the Bacchic filters ... ".
- Alberdi-Sarmiento Award.
- Dag Hammarskjöld Inspiration Award.
- Order to the Merit of Italy.
- María Moors Cabot Award for Journalism.
- Applause Award.
- Honorary member of the Mexican Academy of the Language since January 25, 1949.
- Alfonso Reyes International Award.
- Gabriela Mistral Award for Quality Culture, Chile.
- "Man of the Americas" by the Americas Foundation.
- Andrés Bello Award, Venezuela.
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