Eduardo Galeano

From Wikispooks
Revision as of 05:07, 31 December 2020 by Terje (talk | contribs) (import from Wikipedia)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Person.png Eduardo Galeano  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(author)
Eduardo Galeano ltk (cropped).jpg
Born3 September 1940
Died13 April 2015 (Age 74)

Eduardo Hughes Galeano was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" and "a literary giant of the Latin American left".[1]

Galeano's best-known works are Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America, 1971) and Memoria del fuego (Memory of Fire Trilogy, 1982). "I'm a writer," the author once said of himself, "obsessed with remembering, with remembering the past of America and above all that of Latin America, intimate land condemned to amnesia."[2]

Author Isabel Allende, who said her copy of Galeano's book was one of the few items with which she fled Chile in 1973 after the military coup of Augusto Pinochet, called Open Veins of Latin America, "a mixture of meticulous detail, political conviction, poetic flair, and good storytelling."[3]

Life

Eduardo Germán María Hughes Galeano was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on[4] Sept. 3, 1940.[5] His two family names were inherited from Welsh and Italian (from Genoa) great-grandfathers; the other two were from Germany and Spain.[6] Galeano wrote under his maternal family name; as young man, he briefly wrote for a Uruguayan socialist publication, El Sol, signing articles as "Gius," "a pseudonym approximating the pronunciation in Spanish of his paternal surname Hughes."[7] Galeano's family belonged to the fallen Uruguayan aristocracy; Galeano himself went to work at fourteen, having completed just two years of secondary school.[8]

He started his career as a journalist in the early 1960s as editor of Marcha, an influential weekly journal which had such contributors as Mario Vargas Llosa, Mario Benedetti, Manuel Maldonado Denis and Roberto Fernández Retamar. For two years he edited the daily Época and worked as editor-in-chief of the University Press. In 1959 he married his first wife, Silvia Brando, and in 1962, having divorced, he remarried to Graciela Berro.[9]

In 1973, a military coup took power in Uruguay; Galeano was imprisoned and later was forced to flee, going into exile in Argentina where he founded the magazine Crisis.[10] His book Open Veins of Latin America was banned by the right-wing military government, not only in Uruguay, but also in Chile and Argentina.[11] In 1976 he married for the third time to Helena Villagra; however, in the same year, the Videla regime took power in Argentina in a bloody military coup and his name was added to the list of those condemned by the death squads. He fled again, this time to Spain, where he wrote his famous trilogy, Memoria del fuego (Memory of Fire), described as "the most powerful literary indictment of colonialism in the Americas."[12]

Galeano in 1984

At the beginning of 1985 Galeano returned to Montevideo when democratization occurred. Following the victory of Tabaré Vázquez and the Broad Front alliance in the 2004 Uruguayan elections marking the first left-wing government in Uruguayan history Galeano wrote a piece for The Progressive titled "Where the People Voted Against Fear" in which Galeano showed support for the new government and concluded that the Uruguayan populace used "common sense" and were "tired of being cheated" by the traditional Colorado and Blanco parties.[13] Following the creation of TeleSUR, a Latin American television station based in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005 Galeano along with other left-wing intellectuals such as Tariq Ali and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel joined the network's 36 member advisory committee.[14]

On February 10, 2007, Galeano underwent a successful operation to treat lung cancer.[15] During an interview with journalist Amy Goodman following Barack Obama's election as President of the United States in November 2008, Galeano said, "The White House will be Barack Obama's house in the time coming, but this White House was built by black slaves. And I’d like, I hope, that he never, never forgets this".[16] At the 17 April 2009 opening session of the 5th Summit of the Americas held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave a Spanish-language copy of Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America to U.S. President Barack Obama, who was making his first diplomatic visit to the region.[17]

In a May 2009 interview he spoke about his past and recent works, some of which deal with the relationships between freedom and slavery, and democracies and dictatorships: "not only the United States, also some European countries, have spread military dictatorships all over the world. And they feel as if they are able to teach democracy". He also talked about how and why he has changed his writing style, and his recent rise in popularity.[18]

In April 2014 Galeano gave an interview at the II Bienal Brasil do Livro e da Leitura in which he regretted some aspects of the writing style in Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina, saying

"Time has passed, I've begun to try other things, to bring myself closer to human reality in general and to political economy specifically. 'The Open Veins' tried to be a political economy book, but I simply didn't have the necessary education. I do not regret writing it, but it is a stage that I have since passed."[19]

This interview was picked up by many critics of Galeano's work in which they used the statement to reinforce their own criticisms. However, in an interview with Jorge Majfud he said,

"The book, written ages ago, is still alive and kicking. I am simply honest enough to admit that at this point in my life the old writing style seems rather stodgy, and that it's hard for me to recognize myself in it since I now prefer to be increasingly brief and untrammeled. [The] voices that have been raised against me and against The Open Veins of Latin America are seriously ill with bad faith." [20]

Works

Template:SWMQ

Year Spanish title Spanish ISBN Spanish Publisher English translation
1963 Los días siguientes Alfa The following days
1964 China
1967 Guatemala, país ocupado Guatemala: Occupied country (1969)
1967 Reportajes
1967 Los fantasmas del día del león y otros relatos
1968 Su majestad el fútbol
1971 Las venas abiertas de América Latina 950-895-094-3 Siglo XXI Open Veins of Latin America (1973) ISBN|0-85345-279-2 [21]
1971 Siete imágenes de Bolivia
1971 Violencia y enajenación
1972 Crónicas latinoamericanas
1973 Vagamundo 84-7222-307-8
1980 La canción de nosotros 84-350-0124-5
1977 Conversaciones con Raimón 84-7432-034-8
1978 Días y noches de amor y de guerra 84-7222-891-6 Del Chanchito Days and Nights of Love and War ISBN|0-85345-620-8
1980 La piedra arde
1981 Voces de nuestro tiempo 84-8360-237-7
1982–1986 Memoria del fuego 9974620058 Del Chanchito author=Eduardo Galeano|title=Genesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llpQAwAAQBAJ%7Cdate=29 April 2014|publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=978-1-4804-8138-1

Volume II: Faces and Masks. ISBN|978-0393318067.

Volume III: Century of the Wind. ISBN|0393318079.

1984 Aventuras de los jóvenes dioses 9682320941 Siglo XXI
1985 Ventana sobre Sandino
1985 Contraseña
1986 La encrucijada de la biodiversidad colombiana
1986 El descubrimiento de América que todavía no fue y otros escritos 8476681054 Editorial Laia
1988–2002 El tigre azul y otros artículos 9590602118 Ciencias Sociales (Cuba)
1962–1987 Entrevistas y artículos Ediciones Del Chanchito
1989 El libro de los abrazos 9788432306907 Siglo XXI 0-393-02960-3
1989 Nosotros decimos no 84-323-0675-4 Siglo XXI
1990 América Latina para entenderte mejor
1990 Palabras: antología personal
1992 Ser como ellos y otros artículos 9788432307614 Siglo XXI
1993 Amares 84-206-3419-0 Alianza, España
1993 Las palabras andantes 9974620082 Del Chanchito
1994 Úselo y tírelo 9507428518 Editorial Planeta
1995 El fútbol a sol y sombra 9788432311345 Siglo XXI 1-85984-848-6
1998 Patas arriba: Escuela del mundo al revés 9974620147 Macchi 0-8050-6375-7
1999 Carta al ciudadano 6.000 millones[22] 84-406-9472-5 Ediciones B
2001 Tejidos. Antología 84-8063-500-2 Ediciones Octaedro
2004 Bocas del tiempo 978-950-895-160-1 Catálogos Editora 978-0-8050-7767-4
2006 El viaje 84-96592-55-3
2007 Carta al señor futuro
2008 Patas arriba/ la escuela del mundo al revés 950-895-050-1 Catálogos Editora
2008 Espejos 978-987-1492-00-8 Siglo XXI 1-56858-423-7
2008 La resurrección del Papagayo 978-84-92412-22-8 Libros del Zorro Rojo
2011 Los hijos de los días 978-987-629-200-9 Siglo XXI 978-1568587479
2015 Mujeres - antología 978-84-323-1768-2 Siglo XXI [23]
2016 El cazador de historias 978-987-629-628-1 Siglo XXI 978-1568589909
2017 Cerrado por fútbol Siglo XXI

Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Las venas abiertas de América Latina (Open Veins of Latin America), a history of the region from the time of Columbus from the perspective of the subjugated people, is considered one of Galeano's best-known works. An English-language translation by Cedric Belfrage gained some popularity in the English-speaking world after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave it as a gift to U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009.[24][25]

Galeano was also an avid fan of football, writing most notably about it in Football in Sun and Shadow (El fútbol a sol y sombra).[26] In a retrospective for SB Nation after Galeano's death, football writer Andi Thomas described the work—a history of the sport, as well as an outlet for the author's own experiences with the sport and his political polemics—as "one of the greatest books about football ever written".[27]

Death

Galeano died on 13 April 2015 in Montevideo[28][29] from lung cancer at the age of 74, survived by third wife Helena Villagra and three children.[30]


Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.


References

  1. cite news|first=Graham|last=Parker|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/13/eduardo-galeano-global-soccer-latin-america.html%7Ctitle=Eduardo Galeano: The beautiful game loses its man of letters|date=13 April 2015|accessdate=13 April 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414104454/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/13/eduardo-galeano-global-soccer-latin-america.html%7Carchivedate=14 April 2015
  2. name = "BA Herald notice">Cite web | title = Writer Eduardo Galeano dies | url = http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/186654/writer-eduardo-galeano-dies-at-74 | website = buenosairesherald.com | date = 13 April 2015 | accessdate = 13 April 2015
  3. name="Bernstein">Cite news|title = Eduardo Galeano, influential Uruguayan author, dies at 74|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/eduardo-galeano-influential-uruguayan-author-dies-at-74/2015/04/13/7b6a263a-e1fb-11e4-81ea-0649268f729e_story.html%7Cnewspaper = The Washington Post|date = 2015-04-13|access-date = 2016-01-07|issn = 0190-8286|language = en-US|first = Adam|last = Bernstein
  4. name="Bernstein"
  5. name="fnl">cite news|url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2015/04/13/uruguayan-writer-eduardo-galeano-dies-at-74/%7Cagency=Fox News Latino|date=13 April 2015|accessdate=13 April 2015|title=Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano dies at 74
  6. name = "Martin 1992 148">Harvnb|Martin|1992|p=148.
  7. Simon Romero, "Eduardo Galenao, Uruguayan Voice of Anti-Capitalism, Is Dead at 74," New York Times, 14 April 2015, A17.
  8. name = "Martin 1992 148"
  9. name = "Wilson 1980 31">Harvnb|Wilson|1980|p=31.
  10. Romero, "Eduardo Galeano,"
  11. Fresh Off Worldwide Attention for Joining Obama’s Book Collection, Uruguayan Author Eduardo Galeano Returns with "Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone".
  12. name = "Maybury-Lewis 1991 376">Harvnb|Maybury-Lewis|1991|p=376.
  13. Eduardo Galeano, "Where the People Voted Against Fear" webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213001814/http://progressive.org/node/340 |date=13 February 2007 January 2005 The Progressive
  14. Alfonso Daniels, "'Chavez TV' beams into South America",The Guardian, 26 July 2005.
  15. Eduardo Galeano se recupera de operación El Universal, 11 February 2007 in lang|es
  16. Interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, 5 November 2008 (video, audio, and print transcript)
  17. The Washington Times
  18. Audio and transcript of interview, May 2009
  19. Sounds and Colours
  20. The Open Veins of Eduardo Galeano, Monthly Review, 11.06.14
  21. http://monthlyreview.org/press/books/pb9916/ Open Veins of Latin America
  22. De autores varios: Maryse Condé; Ariel Dorfman.
  23. name="paperback">cite web|url=http://www.paperbackswap.com/Eduardo-Galeano/author/%7Cpublisher=Paperback Swap|title=Search - List of Books by Eduardo Galeano|date=13 April 2015
  24. cite web|url=http://monthlyreview.org/books/pb9916/%7Cpublisher=Monthly Review Press|title=Open Veins of Latin America|accessdate=13 April 2015
  25. cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/apr/19/obama-chavez-book-gift-latin-america%7Cagency=The Guardian|title=Chávez creates overnight bestseller with book gift to Obama|first=Andrew|last=Clark|date=19 April 2009|accessdate=13 April 2015
  26. name="fnl"
  27. cite news|url=https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015/4/13/8403253/eduardo-galeano-soccer-in-sun-and-shadow-review%7Cagency=SB Nation|title=Looking back at Eduardo Galeano's masterpiece, 'Soccer in Sun and Shadow'|first=Andi|last=Thomas|date=13 April 2015|accessdate=13 April 2015
  28. cite web |url=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/186654/writer-eduardo-galeano-dies-at-74 |title=Writer Eduardo Galeano dies |work=buenosairesherald.com |date=13 April 2015 |accessdate=13 April 2015
  29. "Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan Voice of Anti-Capitalism, is Dead at 74." New York Times, Tuesday, 14 April 2015, A17.
  30. cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-eduardo-galeano-20150413-story.html%7Cwebsite=latimes.com%7Ctitle=Eduardo Galeano, Latin American author and U.S. critic, dies at 74|date=13 April 2015|accessdate=13 April 2015|first=Chris|last=Kraul