Alfonso Calderón Squadritto (November 21, 1930 – August 8, 2009) was a Chilean poet and writer. He won the

Chilean National Prize for Literature {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2020 In Chile, the National Prize for Literature ''(Premio Nacional de Literatura)'' was created by Law No. 7,368 during the presidency of Juan Antonio Ríos on 8 November 1942. It consists of a lump-sum monetary prize ...

in 1998. He had been a member of the

Academia Chilena de la Lengua The Academia Chilena de la Lengua (Spanish for ''Chilean Language Academy'') is an association of academics and experts on the use of the Spanish language in Chile. It is a member of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language and is a pa ...

(Chilean Academy of Language) since 1981. He died on August 8, 2009, having suffered a heart attack.

Biography

His secondary school years were spent in the Liceos of Los Ángeles,

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

and in the

Internado Nacional Barros Arana The Internado Nacional Barros Arana (INBA), also known by its code A-17, is a high school located in Santiago, Chile, particularly in front of Quinta Normal Park. It began its operations independently on 20 May 1902, under the presidency of Germá ...

in Santiago, and completed his qualification in the Instituto Pedagógico de la

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

in 1952. After a stint as a Spanish teacher in the Liceo de Hombres de La Serena from 1952 to 1964, he returned to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

to teach in the Institute of Chilean Literature of the University of Chile. He also taught in the University's School of Journalism, was head of the School of Journalism of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

, professor of writing skills in the

Universidad Andrés Bello Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

, professor of Literature in the Diplomatic Academy of the same name, and also taught in the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

and the Miguel de Cervantes University. His literary debut came in 1949 with a collection of poems, ''Primer consejo a los arcángeles del viento'', and by 1952 he had become a critic in journals and newspapers. In 1953 he became the president of the newly founded Carlos Mondaca Cortés Literary Circle, and his reviews appeared in the La Serena publications ''El Serenense'' and ''El Día''. He participated in the ''Revista Ercilla'', was head of the ''Revista Mapocho'' and played a role in the Editora Nacional Quimantu set up by

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

's Unidad Popular government from 1971 until the 1973 coup. In 1974, under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, he gave up his teaching positions in protest at military intervention in Chile's higher education institutions. From 1981 he was a member of the

,The body responsible for overseeing the Spanish language in Chile. and was appointed to the post of director of the Diego Barros Arana Research Centre of the Chilean National Library in 1993. His daughters

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Classical Greek, Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

and Lila Calderón are poets, and Cecilia Calderón González is a professor of Language and Communication and author of several textbooks. He died on August 8, 2009, of a heart attack, and was cremated in accordance with his final wishes.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Alfonso 1930 births 2009 deaths Chilean male poets National Prize for Literature (Chile) winners 20th-century Chilean poets 20th-century Chilean male writers