Rafael Barrett

Born in Torrelavega (Spain) to an Anglo-Spanish family, he reached Paraguay in 1904 as a correspondent for an Argentine newspaper during the Liberal revolution. He settled in Asunción, took part in the 'La Colmena' literary circle and founded the anarchist paper 'Germinal', where he denounced abuses. He was jailed in October 1908 and banished to Corumbá (Brazil); he returned and settled in Areguá. Ill with tuberculosis, he left for France in 1909 and died in Arcachon in 1910. He is regarded as a major figure of Paraguayan literature and a pioneer of its narrative.