Alejo Carpentier
novelist, musicologist, and journalist, at various times a Cuban insurgent, exile, and government official.

b. 26 December 1904
d. 24 April 1980

Carpentier was born in Havana, Cuba. His family was from France, Cuba, and Russia. He attended the university of Havana and studied music and architecture. He also studied in Paris.
Carpentier's most famous work is Los Pasos Perdidos, or the lost steps (1953). He also wrote Ecue-Yamba-O!, Guerra del Tiempo, El Siglo de las Luces, y El Recurso del metodo.

The most important aspect of Carpeniter is his idea of Magic Realism. He was influenced by surrealism from Europe. He concluded that this idea was the father of Latin America. Carpentier's style influenced a lot of other Latin American writers including Gabriel Garcia Marquez who wrote Cientos Años en el Soledad, or One Hundred Years in Soletude.