José Carlos Mariátegui (14 June 1894 – 16 April 1930) was a Peruvian journalist, political philosopher, and activist. A prolific writer before his early death at age 35, he is considered one of the most influential Latin American socialists of the 20th century. Mariátegui's most famous work, Seven Interpretative Essays on Peruvian Reality (1928), is still widely read in South America. An avowed, self-taught Marxist, he nonetheless insisted that a socialist revolution should evolve organically in Latin America on the basis of local conditions and practices, not the result of mechanically applying a European formula. June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Republic of Peru (Spanish: Perú; Quechua, Aymara: Piruw) is a country in western South America, bordering Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the east, south-east and south, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ... Political philosophy is the study of the fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, property, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The color red and particularly the red flag are traditional symbols of Socialism. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ...

Life and works

Mariátegui was born in Moquegua. His father, Francisco Javier Mariátegui Requejo, abandoned his family when José Carlos was young; to support her children, his mother, María Amalia La Chira Ballejos, moved first to Lima, then to Huacho, where she had more relatives. José Carlos had a brother and a sister: Guillermina and Julio César. In 1902, as a young schoolboy, he badly injured his left leg, and was moved to a hospital in Lima. Despite a four-year-long convalescence, his leg remained fragile and he was unable continue his studies. The injury led to severe health problems later in life. Moquegua is a department in Peru. ...

At age 14, he started working at a newspaper, first as an errand boy, then as a linotypist, then eventually as a writer. He worked in daily journalism for "La Prensa" and also for the magazine "Mundo Limeño". In 1916, he left his first employer to join a new daily, El Tiempo, which had a more leftist orientation. Two years later he launched his own magazine, only to find that the owners of El Tiempo refused to print it. This led him to break with El Tiempo and launch a newspaper called La Razón, which became his first major venture in leftwing journalism. In 1918, "nauseated by Creole politics," he wrote in an autobiographical note, "I turned resolutely toward socialism." In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition...

The newspaper led by Mariátegui waged a vigorous defence of the campaign then underway for reform of the universities, and went on to become a tribunal for the defence of the young labour movement. La Razón supported a strike for the eight-hour day held in May 1919, along with lowering the cost of subsistence goods. The paper’s aggressive radicalism brought it into conflict with the Leguía government, and it was rumoured that the ruling circles offered Mariátegui a choice: either go to jail, or travel to Europe with government assistance. In any event, Mariátegui left for Europe in 1920, traveling through France, Germany, Austria and eventually living in Italy for two years, where he married an Italian woman, Ana Chiappe, with whom he had several children. He was in Italy during the Turin factory occupations of 1920, and in January 1921 he was present at the Livorno Congress of the Socialist Party, where the historic split occurred that led to the formation of the Communist Party. By the time he left the country in 1922, Mussolini was already on his way to power. World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the worlds leading industrialised countries, located in the heart of Europe. ... The Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ...

In his writings from that period, Mariátegui observed that fascism was a response to deep social crisis, that it based itself on the petty bourgeoisie of town and country, and that it relied heavily on a cult of violence. According to him, fascism was the price that a society in crisis paid for the failures of the left. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, refers to the right-wing authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ...

Upon his return to Peru in 1923, he began giving in lectures to the Student Federation and in the People’s University and writing articles about the European situation. He also began using Marxist methods to study Peru. Mariátegui also came into contact with and allied himself with Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, leader of the populist movement American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). In October 1923, Haya de la Torre was deported by the Leguía government, leaving Mariátegui as the editor of the magazine Claridad. The fifth issue of the publication in March 1924 was dedicated to Lenin. APRA banner The American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), today officially known as Partido Aprista Peruano (Peruvian Aprist Party) is Perus oldest and only well-institutionalized political party. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. ...

Cover of Amauta, September 1926

In 1924, Mariátegui nearly died, and his injured leg had to be amputated. In 1926, he established the journal Amauta to serve as a forum for discussions of socialism, art and culture in Peru and all of Latin America. In 1927, he was arrested and confined to a military hospital, and later subject to house arrest. He briefly considered relocating to Montevideo or Buenos Aires. Independence Plaza Montevideo from space, March 1997 Independence Plaza, c. ... Buenos Aires (Good Winds in Spanish, but more akin to Fair Winds, as in navigation) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as one of the largest cities in South America. ...

In 1928, Mariátegui became alienated from the APRA, and he set about establishing the Socialist Party, which formally consituted in October of that year, with Mariátegui as general secretary (it later became the Communist Party of Peru). That year, he published his best-known work, Seven Interpretative Essays on Peruvian Reality, in which he examined Peru's social an economic situation from a Marxist perspective. It was considered one of the first materialist analysis of a Latin American society. Beginning with the country’s economic history, the book proceeds to a discussion of the “Indian problem", which Mariátegui locates firmly within the “land problem”. Other chapters are devoted to public education, religion, regionalism and centralism, and literature. According to Broadleft. ...

Also in the same work, Mariátegui blamed the latifundistas, or large land-owners, for the stilted economy of the country and the miserable conditions of the indigenous peoples in the region. He observed that Peru at the time had many characteristics of a feudal society. He argued that a transition to socialism should be based on traditional forms of collectism as practiced by the Indians. In a famous phrase, Mariátegui stated "the communitarianism of the Incas cannot be denied or disparaged for having evolved under an autocratic regime." A latifundio is a large landed estate in Latin America, like a latifundium in ancient Rome. ... Communitarianism as a philosophy began in the late 20th century, opposing aspects of liberalism and capitalism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. ... For other meanings of Inca, see Inca (disambiguation). ...

In 1929, Mariátegui participated in the establishment of the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), which then sent a delegate to Montevideo for the Constituent Congress of the Latin American Trade Union Conference. Independence Plaza Montevideo from space, March 1997 Independence Plaza, c. ...

Mariátegui died on April 16, 1930, of complications from his earlier affliction. 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Mariátegui's house at Jirón Washington 1938-1946 in the the center of Lima was later turned into a museum.

Influence

Mariátegui's ideas continue to have a powerful influence on the politics in Peru and Latin America. APRA, Shining Path, and the Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru all look towards Mariátegui and his writings. These groups have even feuded over who best continues the tradition of his ideas. Shining Paths Flag Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru; it calls itself the Communist Party of Peru (Partido Comunista del Perú). ... ...

Quotes

• Italian fascism represents, clearly, the anti-revolution or, as it is usually called, the counter-revolution. The fascist offensive is explained, and is realised in Italy, as a consequence of a retreat or a defeat of the revolution.

• I am self-taught. I once enrolled in Letters in Lima, but only with interest in taking an erudite Augustine’s Latin course. And, in Europe I freely attended some courses, but without ever deciding to lose my extra-collegiate, and perhaps anti-collegiate, status. (1927) [1] (http://www.marxists.org/archive/mariateg/works/1927-bio.htm)

Mariátegui is also responsible for coining the phrase, in reference to Marxism, sendero luminoso al futuro ("the Shining Path to the future"). This later became the eponym of the Shining Path Maoist guerrilla in Peru. An eponym is a person (real or fictitious) whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity. ... Shining Paths Flag Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path is a Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru; it calls itself the Communist Party of Peru (Partido Comunista del Perú). ...

External links

• José Carlos Mariátegui Internet Archive (http://www.marxists.org/archive/mariateg/) (articles, biography, and pictures)
• "The Problem of the Indian" (1928) (http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist127/docs/jcmindio.html) ( from Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality)
• Website of Mariátegui Museum in Lima (http://www.yachay.com.pe/especiales/mariategui/) (in Spanish)