José García Calderón (1888 5 May 1916) was a

Peruvian Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century; Peruvian p ...

artist and writer who died in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was the son of Francisco Garcia Calderón, provisional president of Peru, and the brother of noted intellectuals Francisco, Juan, and Ventura Garcia Calderon. His works were published by his brothers after his death. Serving as an

artillery observer An artillery observer, artillery spotter or forward observer (FO) is responsible for directing artillery and mortar fire onto a target. It may be a ''forward air controller'' (FAC) for close air support (CAS) and spotter for naval gunfire su ...

in a

balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

, the rope of his balloon broke on 5 May 1916 and the wind sent him to the German lines. He died after he escaped his balloon with a

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

Works

* José Garcia Calderon, ''Diaro intimo, 12 de setiembre 1914-3 de mayo, 1916'', Lima, Universidad nacional mayor de San Marcos, 1969, 135 p. * José Garcia-Calderon, ''Reliquias'', Paris, s.n., 1917, 82 p.

References

20th-century Peruvian writers 1888 births 1916 deaths Peruvian male writers Peruvian military personnel killed in action French military personnel killed in World War I {{Peru-bio-stub