Rubén Bareiro Saguier (January 22, 1930 – March 25, 2014) was a Paraguayan writer, poet and diplomat.

Early life

Rubén Bareiro Saguier was born and grew up in

Villeta Villeta is a city of Paraguay in the Central Department, on the banks of Paraguay River. It is an important industrial center and port. Toponymy The city was founded on March 5, 1714, by Juan Gregorio Bazán de Pedraza, with the original name o ...

, Paraguay. At the age of 11, he learned of the injustice of living in an authoritarian regime when the police, after looking for his father and failing to find him, took the young Rubén and imprisoned him in the town's police station.CAMINO DE ANDAR - POESÍA ÉDITA. Edición ajustada por el autor: RUBÉN BAREIRO SAGUIER- Estudio Crítico de MARIO BENEDETTI. Mensaje de ANDRÉ GLUCKSMANN. Editorial Servilibro, Asunción-Paraguay 2008 (206 páginas) In 1947, Bareiro Saguier received his school baccalaureate and began studying literature at the

Universidad Nacional de Asunción The Universidad Nacional de Asunción or Mbo'ehaovusu Tetãgua Paraguaygua, abbreviated UNA, anglicized as, The National University of Asuncion, is a public university founded in San Lorenzo, Paraguay. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest and most ...

. He stood out as a student leader, something which cost him further imprisonment. He received a bachelor's degree in literature in 1957. In 1962 he received a grant to study at the Universidad Paúl Valéry-Montpellier III, for which purpose he moved to France.

Career

Bareiro Saguier began his literary career writing poems. In 1964 he published his first book, ''Biografía de ausente'' (Biography of an Absentee). In France, he worked as an assistant and Spanish teacher at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

, and then as a professor of Hispanic American literature and

Guaraní language Guaraní (), specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guarani ( "the people's language"), is a South American language that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani family of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of P ...

at the University of Vincennes. He was also part of the National Center of Scientific Investigation in Paris. With the publication of ''Ojo por diente'' in 1971, he received the Cuban prize "Casa de las Américas". Because of this prize, the following year on one of his numerous visits to Paraguay he was arrested and locked up for a month and a half in the infamous Department of Investigations, at the center of the repression under the regime of

Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...

, accused of promoting "rebellious bustle". Immediately intellectuals from around the world mobilized to demand Bareiro Seguier's liberation, including individuals such as

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even ...

and

Fernando Savater Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín (born 21 June 1947 at Basque city of San Sebastián) is a Spanish philosopher, essayist and author. Early years and career Born in San Sebastián, he was an Ethics professor at the University of the Bas ...

. Finally, he was released and expelled from the country, sentenced to an exile which lasted until the fall of the dictatorship in 1989.

Later life and death

Bareiro Saguier worked as ambassador for Paraguay in France from 1994 to 2003, when he returned to Paraguay. He received Paraguay's National Prize for Literature in 2005. He died in hospital in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

on March 25, 2014 after several months of poor health following a heart attack.

Honors and awards

*1950: First prize, ''Concurso de Cuentos'' – Revista Panorama, Asunción *1952: First prize, ''Concurso Ateneo Paraguayo'', Asunción *1954: First prize, ''Concurso de Cuentos'' – Revista Panorama, Asunción *1970: Special mention, ''Concurso de poesía Latinoamericana'' – Revista Imagen Caracas *1972: ''Casa de las Américas'' Prize for his book ''Ojo de diente'' *2005: National Prize for Literature

Publications

* ''Cuento y Novela'', in collaboration with Manuel Arguello. Paraguay nation of métis. * ''Biografía de ausente'' (1964), poetry with illustrations by Carlos Colombino * ''Misa por un continente'', with music by Francisco Marín, recorded by Barclay. * ''Ojo por diente'' (1971), story. Pacte de sang (translation of “Ojo por diente” made by A. M. Metailié) * ''A la víbora de la mar'' (1977), poetry with illustrations by Carlos Colombino. Second edition with introduction by Augusto Roa Bastos * ''Literatura Guaraní del Paraguay'' (1980), essay, in collaboration with Jacqueline Baltran * ''Antología Personal de Augusto Roa Bastos'' * ''Cultura y Sociedad en América Latina'' * ''Antología de la novela hispano-americana'', in collaboration with Oliver de León * ''Estancias, errancias, querencias'' (1985), poetry * ''El séptimo pétalo del viento'' (1984), story with prologue and interview by Augusto Roa Bastos ** single story: ''Wie Onkel Emilio das ewige Leben erlangte.'' Transl. José Antonio Friedl Zapata. In: ''Ein neuer Name, ein fremdes Gesicht. 26 Erzählungen aus Lateinamerika.'' Luchterhand. Neuwied 1987, pp 212–228 * ''Las dictaduras en América Latina'', introduction and announcement of slides * ''Antología poética'', selected by Daniel Leyva * ''Augusto Roa Bastos: semana de autor'' (1986), essay * ''Augusto Roa Bastos, caída y resurrecciones de un pueblo'' (1989), essay * ''Antología de la poesía paraguaya del siglo XX'' (1990), anthology in collaboration with Carlos Villagra Marsal * ''Antología de la novela latino-americana'', in collaboration with Oliver de León * ''De nuestras lenguas y otros discursos'' * ''Tentaciónde la utopía - La República de los Jesuitas en el Paraguay'', in collaboration with Jean Paul Duviels * ''De la literature guaraní a la Literature paraguaya: Un proceso colonial'', PhD thesis in literature, with Very Honorable mention * ''La América hispánica en el siglo XX'' * ''Cuentos de las dos orillas'' * ''Antología poética'' (bilingual) * ''De cómo el tío Emilio ganó la vida perdurable'', monologues * ''Antología de la poesía guaraní y en guaraní del Paraguay'', in collaboration with Carlos Villagra Marsal * ''Fiesta patronal'', with photographs by Fernando Allen * ''El río, la vida'', with photographs by Fernando Allen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bareiro Saguier, Ruben 1930 births 2014 deaths People from Villeta Paraguayan people of Galician descent Paraguayan male writers Paraguayan male poets