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Biography of Ricardo PalmaName: Ricardo PalmaBirth Date: February 7, 1833 Death Date: October 6, 1919 Place of Birth: Lima, Peru Nationality: Peruvian Gender: Male Occupations: writer, essayist, short story writer Ricardo Palma Ricardo Palma (1833-1919) was a Peruvian essayist and short-story writer. He composed a long series of witty and picaresque tradiciones, or historical prose tales, whose plots and incidents were for the most part derived from the rich wealth of Peruvian literature and history.Ricardo Palma was born in Lima on Feb. 7, 1833, son of a well-to-do family. He grew up amid turbulent political events and reached adolescence as the romantic tradition in Peru was reaching its zenith. At 15 he published his first verses and became the editor of a political and satiric newssheet called El Diablo (The Devil). He was educated in a Jesuit school and went on to the University of San Carlos, where his studies were cut short by a 6-year period of voluntary service in the Peruvian navy.During these years the young writer was composing romantic dramas (which he later repudiated) and poetry. Palma's first book of verse, …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…although from 1883 until his death Palma continued to add new sketches to the original volumes and reordered and revised the individual collections.The War of the Pacific (1879-1883) between Chile and Peru disrupted Palma's life and resulted in the virtual destruction of his own library as well as that housed in the Peruvian National Library. After the war Palma was named director of the National Library, a post he held until his retirement in 1912. He died in Lima on Oct. 6, 1919. Further Reading There is no full-length study of Palma in English. Biographical information is in Harriet de Onis's introduction to Palma's The Knights of the Cape (trans. 1945). For background on his life and work see Alfred Coester, The Literary History of Spanish America (1916; 2d ed. 1928); Arturo Torres-Rioseco, The Epic of Latin American Literature (1942); Enrique Anderson Imbert, Spanish-American Literature: A History (trans. 1963; rev. ed. 1969); and Jean Franco, An Introduction to Spanish-American Literature (1969). |