Carlos Gagini (18651925) was a Costa Rican intellectual,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

writer,

esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. He was born in Costa Rica, in a family of Swiss descent. He was a significant figure in

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and literature in Costa Rica. His work in language studies formed the basis for a large part of Costa Rican academic exploration during the twentieth century.

Life and career

He published many works about education, grammar, and anthropology. In literature, he supported the national character of Costa Rican writing, in contrast to other authors who looked to European models for inspiration. As a strong defender of national identity and independence, he wrote a novel which criticized imperialism. In 2001, on the 75th anniversary of his death, in the faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Costa Rica, an esperanto memorial was inaugurated in his memory.

Works by Gagini

* ''Diccionario de Barbarimos y Provincialismos de Costa Rica'' (1892) * ''Ensayo Lexicográfico sobre la Lengua Térraba'' (1892) * ''Chamarasca'' (1898) * ''Diccionario de Costarriqueñismos'' (1919) * ''La Caida del Aguila'' (1920) * ''Erizo: novela histórica'' * ''El árbol enfermo'' * ''Redemptions: a Costa Rican novel'' translated by E. Bradford Burns (1985)

Biography

* ''Carlos Gagini. Presentado por Lilia Ramos y Mariana de Silva'' (1972) * ''Al través de mi vida'' (1961)

References

External links

Carlos Gagini
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gagini, Carlos Costa Rican male short story writers Costa Rican short story writers Costa Rican male writers Writers of Esperanto literature Linguists 1865 births 1925 deaths Costa Rican people of Swiss descent Costa Rican Esperantists