Germán Arciniegas Angueyra (December 6, 1900 - November 29, 1999) was a Colombian historian, writer and journalist who was known for his advocacy of educational and cultural issues, as well as his outspoken opposition to dictatorship. He also served as a college professor and held positions in the government, including Minister of Education and several ambassadorships.Encyclopædia Britannica: Germán Arciniegas /ref>
Family
Arciniegas was the son of Rafael Arciniegas Tavera, a farmer, and his wife Aurora Angueyra Figueredo. He had three brothers and four sisters. His father died young, leaving his mother struggling to support the family. His maternal great-grandfather was
Perucho Figueredo
Pedro Felipe Figueredo, (born 18 February 1818 – 17 August 1870), mostly known as Perucho, was a Cuban poet, musician, and freedom fighter of the 19th century. In the 1860s, he was active in the planning of the Cuban uprising against the S ...
, an early Cuban
freedom fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
who wrote
La Bayamesa
"" (, ) is the national anthem of Cuba. It was first performed in 1868, during the . Perucho Figueredo, who took part in the battle, wrote and composed the song. The melody, also called "" (), was composed by Figueredo in 1867.
Overview
On Oct ...
, Cuba's
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
. Both of Perucho's daughters fled the country when he was executed. Luz, the younger daughter, was married to a Cuban engineer who went to Colombia to help build a railroad line. It was there, amid the dangers of the jungle, that Germán's mother was born.
Early years
At the age of eighteen, he began studying law at the
National University of Colombia
The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz ...
. At that time he had already created two journals: ''Año Quinto'' (1916) and ''Voz de la Juventud'' (1917). While a student he founded and managed the magazine ''Universidad'' (1921). He collaborated with many well-known figures at all three periodicals, including Luis López de Mesa,
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities ...
,
León de Greiff
Francisco de Asís León Bogislao de Greiff Haeusler (July 22, 1895 – July 11, 1976), was a Colombian poet known for his stylistic innovations and deliberately eclectic use of obscure lexicon. Best known simply as León de Greiff, he often us ...
and
José Juan Tablada
José Juan de Aguilar Acuña Tablada (April 3, 1871 – August 2, 1945) was a Mexican poet, art critic and, for a brief period, diplomat. A pioneer of oriental studies, and champion of Mexican art, he spent a good portion of his life living abro ...
, who introduced the
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...
into Spanish literature via ''Universidad''. His love of journalism led him to establish and manage numerous cultural magazines throughout his life. In 1928, he joined '' El Tiempo'', a daily newspaper in Bogotá, where he managed the editorial section, put together the Sunday Literary Supplement and wrote a weekly column, becoming the general manager in 1937. He would continue to contribute articles and opinion pieces to El Tiempo for the rest of his life, speaking out against drug trafficking, Marxist guerrillas and restrictive immigration policies.
With the assistance of Carlos Pellicer, he established the Federation of Colombian Students. The group opposed Jesuit influence in the nation's universities and held student carnivals which verged on riots. He narrowly missed being killed when a bullet grazed his head at one student rally. Their activism eventually helped to end the Conservative Party's grip on the government and, in 1933, led to the passage of university reforms, which gave students the right to elect their own rectors and have a representative in the legislature to act as their advocate; a position Arciniegas held for a time.La Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango del Banco de la República: Germán Arciniegas /ref> For him, students were the axis around which all political and intellectual movements had turned throughout history. This gave rise to his first book ''El Estudiante de la Mesa Redonda'' (The Student of the Round Table, 1932), in which he speaks of history as a "tavern" with the students sitting at a single table, drinking, recounting their deeds and laughing at everybody else.
Later career
He continued his fight for students' rights during his brief tenures as Minister of Education in 1942 and 1945-46. During this time, he founded the Caro and Cuervo Institute and moved the
Colombian National Museum
The National Museum of Colombia ( es, Museo Nacional de Colombia) is the National Museum of Colombia housing collections on its history, art, culture.
During World War II, he supported giving aid and asylum to refugees. This was in opposition to Luis López de Mesa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who prohibited the entry of Jews into Colombia. Due to this resurgence of Conservative ideology in the 1940s, Arciniegas felt that he and his family were in danger and moved to the United States, taking advantage of an offer to teach at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. He lived in New York for ten years (1947–57). At this time, he wrote his most important and most often banned book, ''Entre la Libertad y el Miedo'' (Between Freedom and Fear, 1952). The work analyzes a critical period in Latin-America, when seven dictators were in power at the same time. He also criticized the U.S. State Department for its conciliatory behavior towards these regimes and, as a result, was detained for questioning several times after returning from trips abroad. The publication and translation of the book was prohibited in at least ten countries. General
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957.
Rojas Pinilla gained prominence as a colonel during L ...
, the President of Colombia, accused Arciniegas of being a Communist and ordered all of his books to be burnt. Rafael Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, put Arciniegas on his hit list.
In terms of culture, Arciniegas strove to achieve and maintain a synthesis between the indigenous and the European. This approach was the driving force behind all of his diplomatic and political activities. He served as
vice consul
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in London (1929), chancellor at the Colombian embassy in Argentina (1940) and as Ambassador to Italy (1959), Israel (1962), Venezuela (1966) and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
(1976). In all of these positions, he acted as an advocate for the art and culture of America, which he perceived as extending from Alaska to Patagonia. From 1960 to 1965 Arciniegas edited the Spanish language magazine of the
Congress for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the CIA was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the ...
, ''
Cuadernos
''Cuadernos'' (Spanish: ''Notebooks'') was a Spanish-language magazine that was published in Paris, France, in the period 1953–1965. Its full title was ''Cuadernos del Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura''. It was one of the publications of ...
''.
In 1992, he was appointed President of the ''National Commission for the Celebration of the Five-Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of America''. He was summarily dismissed by then First-Lady Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria, who took over the commission herself; an action that generated much controversy.
Honors and awards
*
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-ranking ...
(1962)
*
Maria Moors Cabot Prize
The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in the field of journalism. They are presented each fall by the Trustees of Columbia University to journalists in the Western hemisphere who are viewed as having made a significant co ...
(1963)
*
Alfonso Reyes International Prize The Alfonso Reyes International Prize is a Mexican award given for meritorious lifetime contributions to literary research and criticism. It was founded in 1972 by the economist turned author/critic, Francisco Zendejas and was named in honor of Alf ...
Doctor Honoris Causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...
at the Faculty of Humanities and Education of the
Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña
The Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (also called UNPHU) is a Private university, private, coeducational, university in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
History
The University was established as a private, non profit institutio ...
* ''The Knight of El Dorado: The Tale of Don Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and His Conquest of New Granada'', translated by Mildred Adams, Viking Press (1942)
* ''Germans in the Conquest of America: A Sixteenth-Century Venture'', translated by Ángel Flores, Macmillan (1943)
* ''The State of Latin-America: Twenty Nations Between Freedom and Fear'', translated by Harriet de Onís, Knopf (1952)
* ''Latin-America: A Cultural History'', translated by Joan MacLean, Knopf (1967)
* ''Amerigo and the New World : The Life & Times of Amerigo Vespucci'', translated by Harriet de Onís, Octagon (1978)
* ''America in Europe: A History of the New World in Reverse'', translated by Gabriela Arciniegas and Victoria Arana, Harcourt (1986)
* ''Caribbean: Sea of the New World'', translated by Harriet de Onís, Markus Wiener (2003)
Spanish
* ''El Estudiante de la Mesa Redonda'', Ercilla (1937)
* ''Los Comuneros'', Editorial ABC (1938)
* ''Este Pueblo de América'', Fondo de Cultura Economica (1945)
* ''América Mágica. Los Hombres y los Meses'', Sudamericana (1961)
* ''América Mágica. Las Mujeres y las Horas'', Sudamericana (1961)