Germán Arciniegas

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Germán Arciniegas (born December 6, 1900 in Bogotá , † November 29, 1999 ibid) was a Colombian politician , writer and journalist .

Life

Arciniegas studied law and economics at the university in his hometown . In 1928 he founded the magazine Universidad together with former fellow students . Politically interested and committed, he went to London in 1930 as Vice Consul and worked there at the same time as a correspondent for the newspaper El Tiempo . In the winter of 1933/34 he returned to Bogotá as the responsible editor-in-chief of the newspaper El Tiempo . In 1934 he was elected as a member of the Colombian parliament .

In 1940 Arciniegas was entrusted with the management of the Colombian embassy in Buenos Aires ( Argentina ). In 1941/42 and 1945/46 he served his country as Minister of Education. At the same time, he was editor of the magazine Revista de América between 1944 and 1948 . From the winter semester of 1948/49 onwards, Arciniegas was entrusted with various teaching assignments: at Columbia University (New York), Chicago State University (Chicago) a. a. His earlier liberal-democratic stance later increasingly turned into conservatism.

In 1943 he was elected as an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Arciniegas died a week before his 99th birthday on November 29, 1999 in Bogotá and found his final resting place there.

reception

Arciniegas is one of the most important essayists in Latin America . The thematic focus of his work includes history, cultural history and sociology, especially the countries bordering the Caribbean Sea, whereby Arciniegas always demands social justice mainly for the Indian population. His earlier liberal-democratic stance later increasingly turned into conservatism.

Quote

Dieter Reichardt explains in his work Latin American authors (p. 345):

“The main feature of his historical work is synthesis. Historical reality is not fragmented by him, but grasped and brought to life in the sense of Bergsonian intuition. Arciniegas was and is often accused of mixing historical research with novel-like fiction. But this is precisely the attraction of his work, in which the brilliance of his style, the surprising connections and insights and, last but not least, the profundity of his psychology have to compensate for the lack of scientific caution and meticulousness. "

- Dieter Reichardt

Works (selection)

  • America, tierra firme. 1937.
  • El caballero de El Dorado. Vida del Jiménez de Quesada . 1942.
  • Genio y figura de Jorge Isaac . Bogota 1967.
  • Caribbean rhapsody. Biography of a sea ("Biografia del Caribé"). Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1960.
  • Cultural history of Latin America ("El continente de los siete colores"). Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1966.

literature

  • Dieter Reichardt: Latin American authors. A literary dictionary . Erdmann Verlag, Tübingen 1972, ISBN 3-7711-0152-2 , pp. 344-345.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Honorary Members: Germán Arciniegas. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed March 4, 2019 .
  2. Latin American authors (p. 345)