Alberto Blest Gana at 100
The year 2020 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of Alberto Blest Gana’s death. The prolific writer, who lived to the age of ninety, is arguably the most important author of Chile’s nineteenth century, noted especially for his ability to capture the pulse of the emerging Chilean nation. He lived half of his life in Chile and half in France; he is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Although he left his native country, Chile and Chileans (and Latin America) were the centerpiece of his work.