Alberto Masferrer

Alberto Masferrer was a Salvadoran essayist, fiction writer, and journalist, best known for the development of the philosophy of Vitalismo. He was born in Alegría (formerly Tecape), Usulután on July 24, 1868. He did not receive a formal education, instead claiming to have been educated by "the university of life," but he did travel widely, having lived in several Central American countries, as well as in Chile, New York, and several European nations. During his public career, he served as an ambassador of El Salvador in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Belgium, and served as a professor in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile, and Argentina. Having served in the government of Arturo Araujo, he was sent into exile in Honduras by the dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez following the uprising of 1932 known as the Matanza, dying that same year on September 8 in the city of Tegucigalpa. (There are some uncertainties regarding his death, with some sources claiming that he died in El Salvador, though these claims are in the minority.) He was well-respected during his life, having earned the praise of such major Salvadoran figures as Arturo Ambrogi, Miguel Ángel Espino, Claudia Lars, and Salarrué.

Vitalismo

Vitalismo was a philosophical doctrine developed by Masferrer in several of his essays, particularly "El mínimum vital." This philosophy espouses the idea that all individuals, regardless of gender or race, have the right to a basic standard of life, through equal access to education, work, food, and shelter. Through this philosophy, Masferrer also argued for pacifism, influenced by the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi. Vitalismo can be seen in many of Masferrer's essays, as well as in his novella "Una vida en el cine".

Partial bibliography

* "¿Qué debemos saber?" (essay, 1913)
* "Leer y escribir" (essay, 1915)
* "Una vida en el cine" (novella, 1922)
* "Ensayo sobre el destino" (essay, 1925)
* "Las siete cuerdas de la lira" (essay, 1926)
* "El dinero maldito" (essay, 1927)
* "Helios" (essay, 1928)
* "La religión universal" (essay, 1928)
* "El minimum vital" (essay, 1929)
* "Estudios y figuraciones de la vida de Jesús" (essay, 1930)

The most complete selection of Masferrer's works is the 3 volume collection "Obras de Alberto Masferrer." San Salvador: Universidad Autónoma de El Salvador, 1951.