Sánchez, Luis Alberto (1900–1994)

Luis Alberto Sánchez (b. 12 October 1900; d. 6 February 1994), Peruvian literary historian and politician. Sánchez received doctorates in literature (1922) and law (1925) from the University of San Marcos, where he taught Latin American literature for forty years and served three times as president (1946–1949, 1961–1963, 1966–1969). After joining the Peruvian Aprista Party in 1931, he was elected to two Constituent Assemblies (1932, 1978–1979), the Chamber of Deputies (1945–1948), the Senate (1963–1968, 1980–1992), and the vice presidency of the Republic (1985–1990), and served as acting president of the country on several occasions from 1985 to 1990. During two decades as a political exile, Sánchez was literary editor of Ercilla in Chile and visiting professor in several universities, including Columbia and the Sorbonne. In 1980 he was elected a member of the Peruvian Academy of the Spanish Language and corresponding member of the Spanish Royal Academy. Sánchez, one of the most prolific Peruvian writers of his time, wrote more than sixty books, including La literatura peruana (5 vols., 1982), Historia comparada de las literaturas americanas (4 vols., 1973–1976), and Perú: Nuevo retrato de un país adolescente (Lima, 1981). He died in Lima.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Eugenio Chang-Rodríguez, "¿Tuvimos maestros en nuestra América?" in Hispania 40 (1957): 251-253; Homenaje a Luis Alberto Sánchez (1960).

Donald C. Henderson and Grace R. Pérez, eds., Literature and Politics in Latin America (1982); Homenaje a Luis Alberto Sánchez (1983).

Additional Bibliography

Alva Castro, Luis, et al. Cien años de Luis Alberto Sánchez: Homenaje del Congreso de la República. Lima: Fondo Editorial del Congreso del Perú, 2001.

Alva Castro, Luis, editor. Múltiples miradas de Luis Alberto Sánchez sobre el Perú contemporáneo. Lima: Fondo Editorial del Congreso del Perú, 2002.

Benavides Correa, Alfonso. Luis Alberto Sánchez, el oncenio de Leguía. Lima: 1994.

                            Eugenio Chang-RodrÍguez