Diego Alvarez is a fictional character in the

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay (; 12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of Indian nationality. His best known works are the autobiographical novel ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Road''), '' Apar ...

novel ''

Chander Pahar ''Chander Pahar'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali adventure novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and published in 1937. The novel follows the adventures of a young Bengali people, Bengali man in the forests of Africa. The novel is o ...

''. He is a Portuguese

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

Prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

. He acts as a friend and mentor to Shankar Ray Choudhuri, and together they try to explore the deepest reaches of

Richtersveld The Richtersveld is a desert landscape characterised by rugged kloofs and high mountains, situated in the north-western corner of South Africa’s Northern Cape province. It is full of changing scenery from flat, sandy, coastal plains, to cragg ...

for the Mountain of the Moon. His name isn't really Portuguese but Spanish, the correct form in Portuguese would have been Diogo Álvares.

Background and history

One day in African jungle Shankar rescues and nurses Diego Alvarez. His arrival becomes a turning point in Shankar's life. While recuperating, Alvarez narrated his earlier exploits in Africa with his friend Jim Carter. Lured by a priceless, uncut yellow diamond gifted by the Chief of a Kaafi village, Alvarez and Carter had resolved to find the cave of these yellow diamonds, located on the Mountain of the Moon- Chander Pahar- in the

, which was believed to be guarded by the mythical monster, the Bunyip. The explorers set off, much against the villagers' advice, braved the dense jungle and hostile environment but met with disaster- for Carter was gruesomely killed, supposedly by the

Bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

In Richtersveld

Shankar, highly inspired by Alvarez's exploits, resigns from his job and accompanies Alvarez as they decide to venture out once more and find the mines . They meet with innumerable hardships, and come across the raging volcano called

Ol Doinyo Lengai Ol Doinyo Lengai is an active volcano in northern Tanzania. It consists of a volcanic cone with two craters, the northern of which has erupted during historical time. Uniquely for volcanoes on Earth, it has erupted natrocarbonatite, an unusually ...

. But the

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

was uncharted by the world outside, thus making Shankar and Alvarez its first discoverers. Eventually, they get lost in the forests where Alvarez suffers death at the hands of a mysterious monster, the same that had taken Carter’s life, the

Legacy

After returning from the ''Mountain of the Moon'' Shankar wrote an article for a local newspaper where he refers to the

volcano as ''Mount. Alvarez''.

In other media

Film

In the film- ''Chander Pahar'' or ''Mountain of the Moon'' Alvarez's character is portrayed by South African actor

Gérard Rudolf Gérard Rudolf is a South African actor. He has starred in many TV series and films since 1992, including the 2013 Bengali film ''Chander Pahar'' and the SABC 3 soap ''Isidingo''. He stars as Boef Beukes in the 2023 M-Net series '' Devil's Peak ...

Graphic novel

Diego Alvarez appeared in the 2014 graphic novel '' Moon Mountain'' as the friend of protagonist Shankar.

References

Africa in fiction Fictional Portuguese people Fictional explorers Literary characters introduced in 1937 More {{novel-char-stub