Augusto Céspedes Patzi (6 February 1904,

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 63 ...

– 9 May 1997,

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

) was a

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n writer, politician, diplomat, and journalist. He was the brother-in-law of writer

Carlos Montenegro Carlos Montenegro Quiroga (26 December 1903 – 10 March 1953) was a Bolivian lawyer, journalist, politician, and writer who served as minister of agriculture from 1943 to 1944. He was the principal political theorist of the Revolutionary Nat ...

Career

Céspedes studied law and received his degree in La Paz. In 1927, he founded the Nationalist Party. He was a leader in the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( es, Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , MNR) is a centre-right conservative political party in Bolivia and was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influen ...

(MNR). He worked as a journalist on the front in the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko Ñorairõ1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

, 1944, and 1956), and in diplomatic offices. He served as Bolivia's

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

in 1945, and to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1953, and distinguished himself as Ambassador to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Works

Céspedes wrote various biographies of presidents such as Daniel Salamanca, Germán Busch Becerra, and

Gualberto Villarroel Gualberto Villarroel López (15 December 1908 – 21 July 1946) was a Bolivian military officer who served as the 39th president of Bolivia from 1943 to 1946. A reformist, sometimes compared with Argentina's Juan Perón, he is nonetheless ...

. He also wrote stories and novels:Augusto Céspedes * 1936: ''Sangre de Mestizos'' * 1946: ''Metal del diablo'' * 1956: ''El dictador suicida'' * 1966: ''El presidente colgado'' * 1968: ''Trópico enamorado'' * 1975: ''Crónicas heroicas de una guerra estúpida''

Awards

* 1957: National Literature Prize

External links

"Augusto Céspedes o la pasión de narrar"
por Jaime Iturri Salmón.
Biografía de CéspedesPolémica entre Jorge Abelardo Ramos, Augusto Céspedes, Guillermo Lora y Antezana E.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cespedes, Augusto 1904 births 1997 deaths Bolivian male writers Bolivian politicians Bolivian diplomats Revolutionary Nationalist Movement politicians People from Cochabamba