Nicolás Kingman Riofrío (November 18, 1918, Loja – March 19, 2018, Quito) was an Ecuadorian journalist, writer and politician.

Biography

His father, Edward Kingman, moved from Newton,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to coastal Cantón Portovelo in

El Oro Province El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala. History The area was s ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, while working for the "South America Development Company". Edward Kingman worked in the mines of

Zaruma Zaruma, officially Villa Real de San Antonio del Cerro de Oro de Zaruma is a town in the south of Ecuador, El Oro Province. It is located in the south-east of this province, at an altitude of 1200 metres above sea level, on an inter-Andes route ...

and was the second person to have an automobile in Quito (the first was Juan Isaac Navarro). Kingman was the younger brother of the renowned painter

Eduardo Kingman Eduardo Kingman Riofrío (February 23, 1913 – November 27, 1997) was an Ecuadorian artist. He is considered one of Ecuador's greatest artists of the 20th century, among the art circles of other master artists such as Oswaldo Guayasamín and Cam ...

. Kingman married Gloria Garcés. Kingman completed his secondary studies at the Colegio Vicente Rocafuerte of

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. He has served as a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of 1944, and then in the National Congress of 1948 and 1956 during the presidency of Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy. He was the General Inspectorate of Ecuador between 1961-1963; the vice director of the Housing Bank between 1964-1968; director of the newspaper ''

La Hora ''La Hora'' is the newspaper with the most regional editions in Ecuador. It specializes in regional news, and runs a total of 10 regional editions. The headquarters of ''La Hora'' are located in Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco ...

'' since 1985. He was a founding member of Writers and Artists Union, member of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, and a member of the editorial board of the Library of the Central Bank of Ecuador. As a teenager he started the first student strike at the Colegio Vicente Rocafuerte, and at the same time began a close friendship with Pedro Jorge Vera and members of the

Guayaquil Group The Guayaquil Group (''Grupo de Guayaquil'', "Cinco como un puño") was a literary group from the 1930s - mid 1940s, that emerged as a response to a chaotic social and political climate where the Ecuadorian "montubio" and mestizo were oppressed by ...

, such as Joaquín Gallegos Lara, Demetrio Aguilera Malta,

Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco (October 12, 1908 – May 1, 1993) — born Alfredo Pareja y Díez Canseco — was a prominent Ecuadorian novelist, essayist, journalist, historian and diplomat. An innovator of the 20th-century Latin American nove ...

, José de la Cuadra and Enrique Gil Gilbert. Kingman is the author of the short story book ''Comida para locos'' (Food for the Crazy) (1974), and the novels ''Dioses, semidioses y astronautas'' (Gods, Demigods and Astronauts) (1982) and ''La escoba de la bruja'' (The Witch's Broom) (2000). Kingman's works have not been translated into English yet. Kingman was awarded Ecuador's highest honor, The National Prize of Culture " Premio Eugenio Espejo", in 1997.

Works

* Comida para locos (1974) * Dioses, semidioses y astronautas (1982) * La escoba de la bruja (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingman Riofrio, Nicolas 1918 births 2018 deaths Ecuadorian journalists Male journalists Ecuadorian writers Members of the National Congress (Ecuador) Ecuadorian people of American descent People from Loja, Ecuador