Rafael María Baralt y Pérez (3 July 1810 - 4 January 1860) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n diplomat and one of the country's most famed writers, philologists, and historians. He was the first Latin American to occupy a chair at the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanopho ...

Life

Born in

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

on 3 July 1810, he was the son of Miguel Antonio Baralt, who helped build the Baralt Theater in Maracaibo, and Ana Francisca Pérez, who was Dominican. Baralt was elected to seat ''R'' of the

, he took up his seat on 27 November 1853. He suffered an untimely death in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 4 January 1860 due to the stresses and aggravations suffered during services rendered to his beloved country of birth. He is buried in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.

Books

* ''Resumen de la Historia de Venezuela'' (1840) * ''Adiós a la Patria'' (1842).

References

External links

* 1810 births 1860 deaths Venezuelan male writers People from Maracaibo Members of the Royal Spanish Academy Venezuelan philologists Burials at the National Pantheon of Venezuela Venezuelan people of Dominican Republic descent {{Venezuela-writer-stub