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.