Guillermo Blest Gana
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Guillermo Blest Gana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 28 April 1829 |
| Died | 11 July 1904 (aged 75) Santiago, Chile |
| Language | Spanish |
| Alma mater | National Institute |
| Relatives |
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Guillermo Blest Gana (28 April 1829 – 7 November 1904) was a Chilean writer, usually considered one of his country's leading exponents of Romantic literature.[1][2]
Guillermo Blest Gana was born in Santiago in 1829, the son of Chilean aristocrat María de la Luz Gana López and Anglo-Irish doctor William Cunningham Blest, one of the pioneers of the modernization of medicine in Chile in the first half of the 19th century.[2] Carlos Orrego Luco described Guillermo as follows:
He was tall, slender, very white, with broad forehead raised in shining inspiration, crowned with long, blond, wavy hair in the romantic manner; large luminous eyes the color of sky, dreamy look that, according to the chronicles, captivated all female hearts...[1]
Blest Gana studied at the National Institute and accepted a professorship at the University of Chile. In 1857 he was exiled from the country for opposing the government of President Manuel Montt, and lived in various American and European countries.[2]
He returned to Chile in 1863 and entered service as a diplomat to Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil. In 1894 he served as mayor of Linares.[2]
Guillermo's younger brother Alberto Blest Gana also dedicated himself to writing, and is considered the greatest Chilean novelist of the era.[1] His work is still in print and is required reading in schools. Guillermo's other brother Joaquín practiced literary criticism.[3]
