Viriato Díaz Pérez
Encyclopedia
Viriato Díaz Pérez was of the most important teachers that Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

 had in almost half a century.

Childhood and Youth

Viriato was born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 in 1875. He came from a lineage of intellectual people. He was son of Nicolás Díaz Pérez, renowned writer and author of the Diccionario Biográfico y Bibliográfico de Extremeños Ilustres (Biographic and Bibliographic Dictionary of Illustrious People of Extremadura); Emilia Martín de la Herrería, also a writer.

He got his academic degree of Doctor in Philosophy and Letters in the Central University of Madrid in 1900. He was student of many important teachers, such as Menéndez y Pelayo, Giner de los Ríos, Moraita y Cordera.

Career in Madrid

He left in his homeland a great amount of scientific and literary accomplishments. He published since 1895, until he came to Paraguay, many articles and essays of extreme profundity, dedicated to subjects of his specialty, among them are:
  • La India
  • Some data about the Ancient Hinda Literature *Nature and Function of the rhythmical language, thesis presented in the Philosophy and Letters Faculty of the University of Madrid.
  • About Muslim mysticism
  • Supernaturismo – Karma
  • The root “an” and its meanings, thesis presented to the Congress of Orientalistas, in Amsterdam
    Amsterdam
    Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

    .


In 1904, published in Madrid, in the Latin-American Union his work “Movimiento Intelectual en el Paraguay” (Intellectual Movement in Paraguay), in which he makes mention of the most important personalities of the country.

Since young age he was a collaborator in Hispanic magazines, along with other writers of the generation of 98.

Family

In 1906, encouraged by the Paraguayan politician and writer Hérib Campos Cervera
Hérib Campos Cervera
Paraguayan poet Hérib Campos Cervera was born in Asunción, Paraguay, on March 30, 1905, son of Spanish parents, Herib Campos Cervera, also a poet, and of Alicia Diaz Perez, sister of the great intellectual Viriato Díaz Pérez.-Childhood and youth:...

, who visited him in Spain, he decides to travel to Paraguay.

He liked the country and stayed and in a land that he would get to love as his own. He married Leticia Godoi Rivarola, daughter of the renowned politician and benefactor Juan Silvano Godoi, and had two sons with her, Fernán and Rodrigo. Rodrigo became a poet.

The museum and library that carries the name of Juan Silvano Godoi became the favorite refuge of Viriato, always devoted to his studies.

He dedicated his life to teaching and the intellectual life, and was teacher of hundreds of Paraguayans that received his influence.

Positions occupied

He was appointed Chief of the National Archive, General Director of the Library and Museum of Fine Arts, Member of the Limits Commission with Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. Since 1902 he was Consul of Paraguay in Spain.

Participation in culture

In 1907, he organized the literary circle “La Colmena” that gathered together an entire group of first class intellectuals, such as: Rafael Barret, Juan E. O'Leary, Manuel Domínguez
Manuel Dominguez
Manuel Dominguez , born at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Alta California, Viceroyalty of New Spain, and was the heir to the vast Rancho San Pedro land grant.-Juan Jose Dominguez:...

, Arsenio López Decoud, Modesto Guggiari, Juan Silvano Godoy
Juan Silvano Godoi
- Childhood and studies :He was born in Asuncion on November 12, 1850. He was the son of the Colonel Juan Vicente Godoy and Petrona Echagüe. Narciso Echagüe y Andía, his mother’s father, was one of the leaders of the national independence...

, Carlos R. Centurión, Fulgencio R. Moreno
Fulgencio R. Moreno
Fulgencio R. Moreno was a Paraguayan journalist, financial expert, statesman and one of the most serious researchers of the Paraguayan history.-Childhood and youth:...

, Ricardo Brugada (son), Juan Casabianca, Ignacio A. Pane, Ramón V. Caballero and others.

In 1908, he was a conspicuous collaborator in conferences and almost every literary publishing from the time. Since he arrived to Paraguay, the name Viriato was never estranged from the cultural activity in Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

.

He participated in diverse cultural acts of international disclosure, with Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Since that year to the second decade of the century, his prodigious literary publications were amazing. He was renowned as an important part of the Paraguayan intellectuality. He was known even in foreign circles and gained fame as a wise man.

As the Paraguayan delegate to the Congreso de Bibliografía e Hisoria (Congress of Bibliography and History) in 1916 in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina, he presented his work “Polibiblión Paraguayo”, a guide of bibliographic indications about Paraguay.

Work

He was editor in chief of the important Magazine of the Paraguayan Institute.

In 1913, he created the Revista Paraguaya (Paraguayan Magazine)

In 1924, he wrote the official inform about “La cultura y escultura en el Paraguay” (The culture and sculpture in Paraguay), presented to the League of Nations.

In 1925, he collaborated with the Revista del Paraguay (Magazine of Paraguay), directed by the investigator and poet Enrique Parodi.

He organized the Segundo Congreso Internacional de Historia y Geografía de América (2nd International Congress of History and Geography of America), in Asunción on October 12, 1926.

In 1930, he published in “La Asunción” a magnificent study called “Las comunidades peninsulares en su relación con los levantamientos comuneros americanos y en especial con la Revolución Comunera del Paraguay” (The peninsular communities in their relation with the raising of the American Comuneros and especially with the Revolución in Paraguay).

In 1948, he collaborated with his monograph “La literature en el Paraguay” (The literature in Paraguay) to integrate the great Universal History of Literature, of Prapoline, encyclopedia of XIII volumes. Díaz Pérez was one of the most important figures in the complex time of 1900 in Paraguay.

Last years

He offered more than three hundred conferences.

He gave the classes for more than forty years in the most known educational institutions. His humanist culture, his profound knowledge and inexhaustible intellectual activity made him deserving of the respect of students and pairs.

He died in Asunción, on August 25, 1958.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK