The Modern Novel

Biography

Jorge Icaza was born in 1906 in Quito. He studied at the Central University and the National Conservatory. He started off as an actor and a playwright, while working for the Treasury. When his play El Dictador was criticised by the government, he took up fiction-writing and also opened a bookshop. His first novel, Huasipungo (Huasipungo; US: Huasipungo. The Villagers), which was highly critical of the landowners and took the side of the peasants, particularly the Indians, had considerable success and is now recognised as being one of the greatest Ecuadorian novels. He wrote other novels but never repeated the success of his first novel. During the Seventies, he represented his country as a diplomat in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He died in 1978.

Other links

Jorge Icaza Coronel
Jorge Icaza (in Spanish)
Jorge Icaza (in Spanish)
Jorge Icaza (in Spanish)
Jorge Icaza (in Spanish)