Gustavo Adolfo Martínez Zuviría (October 23, 1883March 28, 1962), best known under his pseudonym Hugo Wast, was a renowned Argentine novelist and script writer.
Biography
Born Gustavo Martínez Zuviría in
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...
, his family relocated to
Santa Fe, and he enrolled at the
University of Santa Fe, receiving a law degree in 1907. Martínez Zuviría first used the pen name "Hugo Wast" for his 1911 novel, ''Flor de Durazno'' (''Peach Blossom'') - his first commercial success. He was elected to the
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...
in 1916 as a Conservative and received the National Literary Prize for his
realist novel, ''Desierto de piedra'' (''Stone Desert''), but he was also known for his
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
- established with his inflammatory ''Oro'' (''Gold'') - and his ideological association with French "
integrisme," a
Catholic nationalist doctrine associated with the
National Front.
[Rock, David. ''Authoritarian Argentina.'' University of North Carolina Press, 1993.]
He was appointed director of the
National Library of Argentina in 1931,
[Metz, Allan (1992). "Hugo Wast: The Anti-Semitic Director of Argentina's National Library, 1931-1955, ''Libraries & Culture'', Vol. 27, No. 1, p. 36.] and in 1943, as Minister of Public Instruction for the newly installed military government of General
Pedro Ramírez, he reinstated religious education in public schools, thus breaking from a sixty-year secular tradition in
Argentine education.
[
A souring of relations with the Catholic Church on the part of President ]Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
led to Wast's dismissal as National Library Director in 1955. The writer died in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in 1962.
Works
* (1905). ''Alegre''.
* (1907). ''Novia de Vacaciones''.
* (1911). ''Flor de Durazno''.
* (1914). ''Fuente Sellada''.
* (1916). ''La Casa de los Cuervos''.
* (1918). ''Valle Negro''.
* (1919). ''Ciudad Turbulenta, Ciudad Alegre''.
* (1920). ''La Corbata Celeste''.
* (1921). ''Los Ojos Vendados''.
* (1922). ''El Vengador''.
* (1923). ''La que no Perdonó''.
* (1924). ''Pata de Zorra''.
* (1924). ''Una Estrella en la Ventana''.
* (1925). ''Desierto de Piedra''.
* (1926). ''Las Espigas de Ruth''.
* (1926). ''El Jinete de Fuego''.
* (1926). ''Myriam La Conspiradora''.
* (1927). ''Tierra de Jaguares''.
* (1927). ''Sangre en el Umbral''.
* (1929). ''Lucía Miranda''.
* (1930). ''15 Dias Sacristán''.
* (1930). ''El Camino de las Llamas''.
* (1931). ''Vocacion de Escritor''.
* (1931). ''Don Bosco y su Tiempo''.
* (1935). ''El Kahal''.
* (1935). ''Oro''.
* (1935). ''Buenos Aires, Futura Babilonia''.
* (1936). ''Naves, Oro, Sueños''.
* (1941). ''El Sexto Sello''.
* (1942). ''Juana Tabor''.
* (1942). ''666''.
* (1944). ''Esperar Contra Toda Esperanza''.
* (1945). ''Lo que Dios ha Unido''.
* (1948). ''Alma Romana''.
* (1948). ''Su Segunda Patria''.
* (1952). ''Morir con las Botas Puestas''.
* (1955). ''Estrella de la Tarde''.
* (1960). ''Año X''.
* (1963). ''Autobiografía del Hijito que no Nació''.
* (1964). ''Navega Hacia Alta Mar''.
Collected works
* (1942). ''Todas las Novelas de Hugo Wast''.
* (1956-57). ''Obras Completas de Hugo Wast'' (2 vols.)
Works in English translation
* (1924). ''The House Of The Ravens''.
* (1928). ''Black Valley''.
* (1928). ''Stone Desert''.
* (1929). ''Peach Blossom''.
* (1930). ''The Strength of Lovers''.
References
Further reading
* Coester, Alfred (1933). "Bibliografía de 'Hugo Wast'", ''Hispania'', Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 187–188.
* Cavness, Raymond McCarey (1930). ''The Social Principles of Hugo Wast''. Thesis (M.A.) - University of Texas.
* Gallaway, Rowana (1930). "Pater Familiae," ''The Pan American Magazine'' 43, pp. 212–13.
* Hespelth, Herman (1924). "Hugo Wast – Argentine Novelist," ''Hispania'' 7, pp. 360–7.
* Jones, Cecil Knight (1930). "Regionalistic Novelist," ''The Pan American Magazine'' 43, pp. 210–12.
* Rennie, Ysabel (1945). "The Opposition." In: ''The Argentine Republic''. New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 355–62.
* Whelan, Mary Angele (1948)
''The Novel of Hugo Wast and its Significance in Contemporary Argentine Literature''
Thesis (M.A.) - Loyola University.
External links
*
hugowast.com.ar
*
Los Ojos Vendados
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wast, Hugo
20th-century Argentine male writers
Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Santa Fe
Argentine ministers of education
Government ministers of Argentina
Integralism
Argentine fascists
People from Córdoba, Argentina
People from Santa Fe, Argentina
Argentine people of Spanish descent
National University of the Littoral alumni
1883 births
1962 deaths
Argentine anti-communists
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery