Historians - Ecuadorian Literature

Rodrigo Pachano Lalama

Rodrigo Pachano Lalama (Ambato, August 7, 1910 – June 20, 1984) was an Ecuadorian lawyer, writer, poet, journalist, historian, researcher, and teacher. He was elected mayor of Ambato in 1955 for a period of 2 years. He authored Tungurahua’s Hymn, several poetry books, and essays, including one about Juan Montalvo. Throughout his life, he received numerous decorations and distinctions. In one of his books, the Spanish writer and Nobel Prize winner Camilo José Cela recalls meeting the “poet Rodrigo Pachano” during a visit to Ambato in 1954. He founded the Tungurahua chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture with other Ambato intellectuals such as Edmundo Martínez, Jorge Isaac Robayo, Rodrigo Vela, Blanca Martínez de Tinajero, and Gerardo Nicola. He was the organization’s president for several years.

José Rumazo González

José Rumazo González (Latacunga, August 28, 1904 – February 26, 1995) was an Ecuadorian writer, philosopher, historian, and poet. He is the author of the celebrated poem “Parusia,” an epic poem that he began writing in 1956 that spans 5,600 pages in 7 volumes. It is one of the longest epic poems in recorded history, with nearly 220,000 verses. It is longer than the Mahabharata by Vyasa, the Ramayana by Valmiki, the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, and the Aeneid by Virgil. He served as Ecuador’s ambassador to Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay, and Panama, in addition to serving as consul in Seville, Cadiz, Lisbon, and Barcelona. He taught History and Castilian at the Eloy Alfaro Military School, and History and Superior Grammar at the Catholic University of Quito. He was a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language, the Ecuadorian Academy of History, the Academies of History of Bogota and Madrid, the Ecuadorian House of Culture, the Bolivarian Society, and other organizations and institutions. From 1975 to 1984, he was the director of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language.

César Salcedo Parrales

César Salcedo Parrales, pseudonym Galo Salcedo (Machala, Ecuador, August 22, 1938 – August 16, 2011) was an Ecuadorian writer, painter, educator, journalist and historian. He authored approximately 13 books and several articles for various publications. He primarily wrote historical works about Machala and the province of El Oro. He was a member of the Association of Latin American and Caribbean Historians, the Association of Historians of Ecuador, and the House of Ecuadorian Culture’s history section in El Oro. The provincial historical archive bears his name.

Gonzalo Ortiz Crespo

Gonzalo Ortiz Crespo (Quito, October 18, 1944) is an Ecuadorian journalist, essayist, historian and writer. He has written three novels: Los hijos de Daisy (2009), Alfaro en la sombra (2012) and Pecunia non olet (2021), a corruption thriller which made it to Primicia.ec’s 2021 list of “the 10 books by Ecuadorian writers that marked the year.” He is a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language and the National Academy of History. He wrote for the newspapers El Tiempo, Hoy, EL COMERCIO and the magazine Gestión. He has worked as a university professor and has held various posts such as secretary of communication, secretary of the administration of President Rodrigo Borja, and councilor of Quito.

Elías Muñoz Vicuña

Elías Muñoz Vicuña (Yaguachi, Guayas, May 10, 1922 – Guayaquil, February 10, 1997) was an historian, writer, university professor, and member of the Ecuadorian Communist Party. His historical essays include: El 15 de Noviembre de 1922 (1978), Biografía de Olmedo (1980), and Papel Histórico de Vicente Rocafuerte (1983). In 1976 he was appointed professor of Economic, Social and Political History of Ecuador at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Guayaquil; in 1984 he was declared a member of the Institute of Labor Law; and in 1985 member of the Guayas chapter of the House of Ecuadorian Culture, and Visiting Professor of the Institute of Diplomacy of the University of Guayaquil. In 1983 he became a member of the National Academy of History. He traveled to many countries as a representative of the Ecuadorian Communist Party, including to Cuba in 1966 per the invitation of Fidel Castro; and in 1970 at the Centenary of Lenin’s birth in Ecuador, the Soviet Union awarded him with the “Lenin Gold Medal” in a public ceremony. Several educational institutions are named after him in Guayaquil.

Enrique Ayala Mora

Enrique Ayala Mora (Ibarra, November 13, 1950) is an Ecuadorian historian, essayist, editor, university professor and politician. He works as a professor at the Central University of Ecuador and the Simón Bolívar Andean University. He was a deputy of Ecuador, vice president of the National Congress and member of the Constituent Assembly (1997-1998). He is currently the President of the Ecuadorian Socialist Party. As an editor and writer, he has published over 30 works on history and politics.

Fernando Jurado Noboa

Fernando Jurado Noboa (Quito, 1944) is an Ecuadorian psychiatrist, historian, biographer, essayist and genealogist. Between 1967 and 1975, he studied medicine at the Central University of Ecuador, and from 1976-1979 he studied psychiatry in Spain. In 1973 he became the youngest member of the Ecuadorian Academy of History. He has been one of the most prolific historic researchers in Ecuador and he has published a large number of works. He has authored more than 50 books and 500 articles in historical and medical journals. He founded Ceniga in Quito (1980) and Sociedad Amigos de la Genealogía (1983).

Gonzalo Rubio Orbe

Gonzalo Rubio Orbe (Otavalo, Imbabura, June 29, 1909 – October 24, 1994) was an Ecuadorian anthropologist, historian, biographer and educator. He was a protégé of Pío Jaramillo Alvarado, a key leader of the indigenista movement. Rubio’s works represent some of the earliest anthropological assessments of indigenous societies in Ecuador. His principal book is Los Indios Ecuatorianos (1987; The Ecuadorian Indians). From 1971 to 1977, he directed the Inter-American Indian Institute (III), based in Mexico. He also wrote biographies on notable Ecuadorians, such as Luis Felipe Borja and Eugenio Espejo. An indefatigable educator, he continued to lecture to university students until his dying day.

Abel Romeo Castillo

Abel Romeo Castillo y Castillo (Guayaquil, January, 22 1904 – Guayaquil, November 11, 1996) was an Ecuadorian writer, historian, biographer, journalist and poet. He was the son of José Abel Castillo Albornoz, the former owner of the newspaper El Telégrafo. Castillo earned a doctoral degree in history in 1931 from the Central University of Madrid, Spain. Among his more notable books are his biographical works on Medardo Ángel Silva, Aurora Estrada i Ayala and José Joaquín de Olmedo, to name a few. His poems “Romance de mi destino” and “Romance criollo de la niña guayaquileña,” were turned into popular pasillo songs. Castillo was one of the founders of the Society of Independent Artists and Writers, and of the Guayas branch of the House of Ecuadorian Culture. Castillo was a member of the Ecuadorian Academies of Language and History.

Juan de Velasco

Juan de Velasco y Pérez Petroche (Riobamba, January 6, 1727 – Faenza, Italy, June 29, 1792) was an influential 18th-century Jesuit priest, historian, and professor of philosophy and theology from the Royal Audience of Quito. He dedicated his life to intellectual pursuits and made significant contributions to various fields of study. Velasco’s most notable work, “Historia del Reino de Quito,” sheds light on the existence of a pre-Inca kingdom in Ecuador, leaving a lasting impact on the country’s historical narrative. His scholarly endeavors extended beyond history, as he also wrote textbooks on physics and anthologies of poetry. Velasco’s versatile expertise and commitment to knowledge continue to be admired, making him a celebrated figure in Ecuadorian intellectual and cultural heritage.

José María Vargas

Fray José María Vargas Arévalo O.P. (Chordeleg, Azuay, November 9, 1902 – Quito, March 25, 1988) was a distinguished Ecuadorian Dominican friar, historian, and author. Ordained on December 28, 1928, he made significant contributions to historical literature. His works include biographies of the 16th-century South American painter Fray Pedro Bedón and the Spanish Dominican missionary Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás. Vargas was renowned for his in-depth historical accounts of Ecuador, with notable titles like “La Cultura del Quito Colonial,” “La Evangelización en el Ecuador,” and “La Misión Científica de los Geodésicos Franceses en Quito.” His outstanding contributions to Ecuadorian culture were honored in 1984 when he was awarded the prestigious “Premio Eugenio Espejo” in the category of Culture.

Jorge Salvador Lara

Jorge Salvador Lara (Quito, September 4, 1926 – Quito, February 8, 2012) was an Ecuadorian politician, diplomat, columnist, writer, and historian. Lara held the position of Ecuador’s Foreign Minister twice. In 1966, he was appointed Foreign Minister in the administration of interim President Clemente Yerovi. From 1976 to 1977, Lara served as Foreign Minister under Vice Admiral Alfredo Poveda’s military regime.

Federico González Suárez

Federico González Suárez (Quito, April 12, 1844 – Quito, December 1, 1917) was an Ecuadorian priest, historian and politician who served as the Archbishop of Quito for twelve years. Prior to becoming the Archbishop of Quito, he served as a senator in the Ecuadorian government in 1894 and then as the Bishop of Ibarra from 1895 to 1905. He wrote several books about the history of Ecuador, among them the book Historia General de la República del Ecuador, which is considered a masterpiece for its objectivity, painstaking research and erudition. He was not shy about criticizing the Church in Ecuador for abuses during the colonial period. The publication of the fourth volume of his history in 1894 was particularly scandalous since it uncovered the sexual liaisons of seventeenth-century Dominican friars in Quito. Although this work drew criticism from his superiors, he was ultimately vindicated, with the Vatican acknowledging the veracity of his analysis.

Gabriel Cevallos García

Gabriel Cevallos García (Cuenca, Ecuador, January 6, 1913 – Tampa, Florida, March 16, 2004) was an Ecuadorian writer, historian, professor, and philosopher. He was the rector of the University of Cuenca from 1964 to 1968 and founder, professor, and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the university. He taught for some years at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where he settled in 1969 to work as a teacher. He was a member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Language and the National Academy of History. He was awarded the Eugenio Espejo Award in 1988 by the President of Ecuador.