Francisco Coloane

Infobox Person
name = Francisco Coloane


image_size = 150px
caption = Francisco Coloane
birth_date = birth date|1910|7|19|mf=y
birth_place = Chiloé, Chile
death_date = death date and age|2002|8|5|1910|7|19|mf=y
death_place = Santiago, Chile

Francisco Coloane (July 19, 1910 – August 5, 2002) was a Chilean novelist and short fiction writer whose works were translated into many languages. Some of his books were adapted to theatre and film.

Biography

He was born in the southern Chilean island of Chiloé, and his literary career expanded from "Perros, Caballos y Hombres”" (Dogs, Horses and Men) in 1935 to the publication of his memoirs "“Los Pasos del Hombre”" (The steps of man) in 2000. Among his most famous works (translated into English, French, Italian, Greek, German, Polish and Dutch) are: "“La Tierra del Fuego se Apago”"/Tierra del Fuego has burnt Out) (1945); "“Golfo de Penas”"/Gulf of Sorrow (1957); "“El Camino de la Ballena”/"The Whales Path (1962); "“El Guanaco Blanco”/"The White Guanaco (1980); and "“El Corazón del Témpano”/"The Heart of the Iceberg (1991). Coloane was awarded the "Premio Nacional de Literatura" (National Prize for Literature) in 1964 in Chile. In 1997, he was awarded the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Republic, where he won considerable notoriety for his work in the 1990s. Coloane was an active member of the Communist Party of Chile for most of his adult life, and a lover of nature who celebrated his 89th birthday by swimming in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean - which in his opinion kept him “vital and active”. Miguel Littin’s movie, "“Tierra del Fuego”", is based on a work by Coloane.

After his death, the Chilean government recognized him as a central figure of 20th-century Chilean literature.

elected works

*Cabo de Hornos (Cape Horn) (1941)
*El ultimo grumete de la Baquedano (1941)
*La Tierra del Fuego se Apago (Tierra del Fuego has burnt out) (1945)
*Golfo de Penas (1945)
*Los Conquistadores de la Antártida (1945)
*Tierra del Fuego (1956)
*El Camino de la ballena (The Whales Path) (1962)
*El Chilote Otey y otros relatos (1971)
*Cuentos Completos (Complete Stories) (1999)

References

*Memoria Chilena: "Portal de la Cultura de Chile." Presenta: Francisco Coloane (1910-2002) [http://www.memoriachilena.cl/mchilena01/temas/index.asp?id_ut=franciscocoloane(1910-2002)]
*Escritores de Chile (UNESCO) [http://www.escritores.cl/base.php?f1=semblanzas/texto/coloane.htm]