Aguirre, Nataniel (1843–1888)

Nataniel Aguirre (b. 10 October 1843; d. 11 September 1888), Bolivian writer and politician. Born in Cochabamba, Aguirre was an important political figure during the period of the War of the Pacific (1879). He was a firm believer in liberal ideas and a great defender of federalism. But Aguirre's importance comes from his literary work. He is the author of plays, short stories, and a historical novel, Juan de la Rosa: Memorias del último soldado de la Indepen-dencia (1885), which is his most important work and is considered the national novel of Bolivia. He also wrote historical books and diverse political treatises.

Juan de la Rosa is the story of the uprising of Cochabamba between 1810 and 1812, at the beginning of the War of Independence. Its narrator and protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy who participates in the events leading to the emergence of nationalism in the future Republic of Bolivia. In this novel, Aguirre endorses the main ideas of liberalism and tries to blend them with the vital force of the mestizo (mixed-blooded) population, which is portrayed as the protagonist of these early battles.

See alsoWar of the Pacific .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Porfirio Díaz Machicao, Nataniel Aguirre (1945).

Walter Navia Romero, Interpretación y análisis de "Juan de la Rosa" (1966).

José Roberto Arze, Prologue to Nataniel Aguirre, 2d ed., by Eufronio Viscarra (1969).

Alba María Paz Soldán, "Una articulación simbólica de lo nacional: Juan de la Rosa de Nataniel Aguirre" (Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1986).

Additional Bibliography

Mariaca, Guillermo. Nación y narración en Bolivia: Juan de la Rosa y la historia. La Paz, Bolivia: Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación, UMSA, 1997.

                           Leonardo GarcÍa PabÓn