Pedro Sienna (13 May 1893—20 March 1972) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an playwright, poet, journalist, art critic and theatre and movie actor who is also remembered as one of his country's pioneering directors in the early years of

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

. He was married to Julia Benavides Hübler. They had three children: two were twins who died as toddlers, and Carmen Julia.

Career

A native of

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

, Pedro Pérez Cordero used the professional

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Pedro Sienna. He briefly studied at the Liceo Neandro Schilling at his birthplace, and completed his secondary studies at the

Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera, often shortened to Instituto Nacional (National Institute), is a public boys' school in downtown Santiago, Chile which teaches 4.400 students between 7th and 12th grade. 170 teachers are employed ...

in Santiago. He began his association with film by directing and starring in ''El Hombre de acero'' (1917) and ''Los Payasos se van'' (1921). In 1925, he wrote, directed and starred in the film considered a classic of Chilean silent cinema, ''

El Húsar de la muerte EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

'' (''The Death Hussar''). As a highly respected author, he wrote ''Muecas en la Sombra'', ''La Caverna de los Murciélagos'', ''Recuerdos del Soldado Desconocido'', ''Memorias de la Vida del Teatro'' and the biographical ''La vida pintoresca de Arturo Bührle''. On 27 December 1966, at the age of 73, Pedro Sienna was awarded the country's national art prize, Premio Nacional de Arte de Chile. He died in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

eight weeks short of his 79th birthday.

Filmography

As director, writer and actor: *1925: ''

'' As director and actor: *1917: ''El Hombre de acero'' *1921: ''Los Payasos se van'' *1922: ''El Empuje de una raza'' *1924: ''Un Grito en el mar'' *1926: ''La Última trasnochada'' As actor: *1918: ''Todo por la patria'' or ''El giron de la bandera'' (directed by Arturo Mario) *1920: '' Manuel Rodríguez'' (directed by Arturo Mario)

References

# OBRAS COMPLETAS DE PEDRO SIENNA, Pinochet, Cecilia - Fondo Editorial Juvenal Hernández Jaque - Valenzuela C., Mauricio - Schultz, Francisca; , Santiago de Chile, 2011

External links

*
''Pedro Sienna: Manuel Rodríguez'' in MABUSE
20th-century Chilean male actors Chilean male film actors Chilean male silent film actors Chilean film directors Chilean speculative fiction writers Chilean male dramatists and playwrights Chilean male poets Chilean journalists Male journalists People from San Fernando, Chile 1893 births 1972 deaths Liceo Neandro Schilling alumni Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera alumni 20th-century Chilean dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Chilean male writers 20th-century journalists {{chile-film-director-stub