Tomás Helmut Straka Medina (born October 25, 1972), is a
Venezuelan
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
author and professor of history at the
Andrés Bello Catholic University
Andrés Bello Catholic University also known in Spanish as Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (where the mai ...
,
Career
Straka is the author of ''La Voz de los Vencidos'' (2000), ''Hechos y gente, Historia contemporánea de Venezuela'' (2001), ''Un Reino para este mundo'' (2006), ''La épica del desencanto'' (2009), ''La república fragmentada. Claves para entender a Venezuela'' (2015), among other works and essays.
Outside of his work at
Andrés Bello Catholic University
Andrés Bello Catholic University also known in Spanish as Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (where the mai ...
in Venezuela, Straka has been a visiting scholar at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
and
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...
. Since 2016, he has been a member of the National Academy of History (Venezuela).
Personal life and education
Straka is the son of
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
anthropologist Hellmuth Straka (1922–1987) and brother of human rights activist Ursula Straka.
He holds a PhD in History (Doctor en Historia) from
Andrés Bello Catholic University
Andrés Bello Catholic University also known in Spanish as Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (where the mai ...
Universidad Central de Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in L ...
.
Bibliography
* ''La voz de los vencidos, ideas del partido realista de Caracas (1810–1821)'', 2000.
* ''Hechos y gente, Historia contemporánea de Venezuela'' (Textbook about Venezuelan contemporary history), 2001.
* ''La alas de Ícaro, indagación sobre ética y ciudadanía en Venezuela (1800–1830)"'', 2005.
* ''Un reino para este mundo, Catolicismo y republicanismo en Venezuela'', 2006.
* ''La Tradición de lo moderno, Venezuela en diez enfoques'' (Editor) 2006.
* Biographies of Julián Castro and
Juan Crisóstomo Falcón
Juan Crisóstomo Falcón Zavarce (27 January 1820 – 29 April 1870) was the president of Venezuela from 1863 to 1868.El Nacional, 2006–2007.
* ''Contra Bolívar'' (Compilation and comments about a series of articles of royalist journalist José Domingo Díaz against Simón Bolívar), 2009.
* ''La épica del desencanto'' (Analysis of Simón Bolívar as cult figure in Venezuelan politics, society and history), 2009.
* ''Instauración de la República Liberal Autocrática: claves para su interpretación 1830–1899'' (Venezuela's panorama during the second half of 19th century), 2010.
* ''Historia de la Iglesia Católica en Venezuela. Documentos para su estudio''. Along with historian Manuel Donís (Compilation of important documents of Venezuelan Catholic Church), 2010.
* ''Las Independencias de Iberoamérica'' (Editor with Agustín Sánchez Andrés and Michael Zeuske), 2011.
* ''Venezuela 1861–1936. La era de los gendarmes. Caudillismo y liberalismo autocrático,'' 2013.
* ''La república fragmentada. Claves para entender a Venezuela'', 2015.
* ''Historical Dictionary of Venezuela'' (with Guillermo Guzmán Mirabal and Alejandro Cáceres), 2018.he just djmbn
* ''La economía venezolana en el siglo XX. Perspectiva sectorial'' (Editor with Fernando Spiritto), 2018