Rómulo Gallegos

Born Aug. 2, 1884, in Caracas; died there Apr. 5, 1969. Venezuelan statesman, political figure, and writer.

Gallegos was a teacher from 1912 to 1930. From 1931 to 1936 he lived abroad, primarily in Spain. Returning to his country in 1936, he was minister of public education and, from 1937 to 1940, a deputy to the Venezuelan congress. In 1941 he became one of the leaders of the Democratic Action Party. In December of 1947 he was elected president of Venezuela at the head of this party. Gallegos’ government, which had raised taxes on the income of foreign oil companies, was overthrown in November 1948 by a coup d’etat organized by monopolies of the USA. From 1948 to 1958, Gallegos once again lived abroad. He returned to his native land in 1958. He is the author of the realistic novels Doña Bárbara (1929; Russian translation, 1959) Cantaclaro (1934; Russian translation, 1966), Canaima (1935; Russian translation, 1959), and Pobre negro (1937; Russian translation, 1964), all of which portrayed the social conflicts of Venezuelan life. Underlying these novels is a distinctive philosophic artistic conception according to which the main force in the development of society is the struggle between barbarism and civilization. The personified image of nature plays a large role in Gallegos’ novels. He was an advocate of nonviolent methods of rebuilding society.