Nestor Taboada Teran (8 September 1929 – 8 June 2015) was a

Bolivian Bolivian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Bolivia ** Bolivian people ** Demographics of Bolivia ** Culture of Bolivia * SS Bolivian, SS ''Bolivian'', later SS ''Alfios'', a British-built standard cargo ship {{disambiguation ...

writer, novelist, historian, journalist and university professor.

Biography

He was born in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

and, in his youth, worked as a

linotypist The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing which is manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for one-time use. Li ...

before he became a journalist. A prolific author, he wrote some 128 books in his long life, among them the novels '' Manchay Puytu'' (1977) and '' El signo escalonado'' (1975), both of which are considered among the best novels in

Bolivian literature The constant political turmoil that Bolivia has experienced throughout its history has slowed the development of Bolivian literature. Many talents have had to emigrate or were silenced by the internal conflict. In recent years the literature of B ...

. He also won the National Novel Award for his work ''La Virgen de los Deseos'' (2008). His work inspired the book by the doctor in Latin American literature, Keith Richards, ''Lo imaginario mestizo: aislamiento y dislocación de la visión de Bolivia de Néstor Taboada Terán'' (1999), originally presented in 1994 as a doctoral thesis (''The mestizo imaginary'') at King's College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In 1993, the musical ''Manchay Puytu, the Sound of Fear'' premiered at the

Museum of Modern Art in New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

, and in 1995, Bolivian composer Alberto Villalpando premiered the lyric opera ''Manchay Puytu'', based on Taboada Terán's novel. Among many honours, both domestic and international, he was a member of the Bolivian Academy of Language.

References

{{authority control Bolivian writers 1927 births 2015 deaths