Manuel Gallegos Naranjo (Guayaquil, March 26, 1845 – Ibídem , 1917) was a prominent Ecuadorian chronicler, novelist, and poet during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1871, he founded the magazine Espejo, which provoked the ire of President Gabriel García Moreno, leading to Gallegos Naranjo’s exile to Chile. Upon his return to Ecuador, he supported General Ignacio de Veintimilla and established the newspaper Ocho de Septiembre, receiving a government salary. He eventually relocated to Quito. In 1878, he began publishing his initial works as a writer. Subsequently, he released a critical loose leaf targeting Juan León Mera, a supporter of García Moreno. Gallegos Naranjo contributed to the newspaper La Nación in his hometown and served as the editor of Diario Los Andes. In 1883, he published “El Almanaque Ecuatoriano” [The Ecuadorian Almanac] a comprehensive reference containing valuable information across its extensive 300-page content. In 1895, he suffered from thrombosis, leaving him wheelchair-bound. Gallegos Naranjo’s work “Celebridades Malditas” is a historical novel that delves into the lives of infamous characters from old Guayaquil who became entangled in criminal activities due to their ill-fated choices. This novel has been reprinted by the Editorial of the Municipal Library of Guayaquil. Additionally, six of his unpublished works are preserved in the Carlos Alberto Rolando National Authors Library in Guayaquil.
Family
Manuel Gallegos Naranjo was the son of Calletano Gallegos de Luna, a native of Rota, Cádiz, Spain, and Rita Naranjo Ledos, a native of Guayaquil.
Works
- 1900 : Fin de siglo : Almanaque de Guayaquil Manuel Gallegos Naranjo. Tipografía Gutenberg. Guayaquil, 1899 – 214, V, [2] p. / 22 cm.
- Lecciones de historia del Ecuador. Tip. “El Vigilante”, 1900 – 168 p. (Read it for free here).
- Guayaquil: novela fantástica. Imprenta “Manabita”, 1901 – 108 p.
- Parnaso ecuatoriano: con apuntamientos biográficos de los poetas y versificadores de la República del Ecuador, desde el siglo XVIII hasta el año de 1879. Imprenta de Manuel V. Flor, 1879 – 585 p. (Read it for free here).
- Celebridades malditas!: Novela histórica. Proyecto de Rescate Editorial de la Biblioteca Municipal de Guayaquil, 1909 – 141 p. (Read it for free here).
- Haz bien, sin mirar a quien: Novela social. Imp. de el Comercio, 1910 – 91 p. (Read it for free here).
- Poesias Imp. de Juan P. Sanz, 1878 – 146 p. (Read it for free here).
- Estudio sobre el soneto Tipografía Gutenberg. Guayaquil, 1908 – 34 p. (Read it for free here).