Guatemala - Famous guatemalans

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Photo by: Erkki & Hanna

The Rusticatio Mexicana, by Rafael Landívar (1731–93), represents the height of colonial Guatemalan poetry. Outstanding figures of the romantic period were philologist Antonio José de Irisarri (1786–1868); José Batres y Montúfar (1809–44), the author of Tradiciones de Guatemala and many poetical works; and José Milla y Vidaurre (1822–82), a historian and novelist and the creator of the national peasant prototype, Juan Chapin. Justo Rufino Barrios (1835–85) became a national hero for his liberal, far-reaching reforms between 1871 and 1885. Enrique Gómez Carillo (1873–1927), a novelist and essayist, was perhaps better known to non-Spanish readers during his lifetime than any other Guatemalan author. Twentieth-century novelists include Rafael Arévalo Martínez (1884–1975), Carlos Wyld Ospina (1891–1956), and Flavio Herrera (1895–1968). The novelist and diplomat Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974) was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1967.

Mario Cardinal Casariego (b.Spain, 1909–83) became the first Central American cardinal in 1969. Among the better-known Guatemalan political personalities of the 20th century are Col. Jácobo Árbenz Guzmán (1913–71), president during 1951–54, and Gen. Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes (1896–1982), president during 1958–63.