The Mariátegui Project

José Carlos Mariátegui

This is not a fictionalized biography; it fits precisely with reality. Fantastic embellishments are absent from life of José Carlos Mariátegui. The author of these pages would not want to deform the simple and heroic truth that gave us America’s “Little Great Amauta” with imaginary events and episodes which, while they may excite the reader’s curiosity, would ring false within the harmony of a life free of artifice.

I do not separate the intimate and familiar side of Mariátegui from his work as an author and sower of ideas, but out of preference, I limit myself to his human trajectory, rather than his intellectual profile. I believe that in learning about the man, so too can we learn about the thinker, and each aspect will lead us to the same point, until they meet and form a whole.

In this brief and schematic account, I present Mariátegui as I saw and remember him. I have no pretensions as a biographer; I am simply a storyteller who knows the shortcomings of her own profession. Hopefully these notes and facts will enrich and strengthen the core of this book, as is only appropriate for the eminent figure of José Carlos Mariátegui.