Salvador Reyes Figueroa


Salvador Reyes Figueroa was a Chilean writer who won the 1967 Chilean National Prize for Literature.

Biography

He was born in Copiapó to Arturo Reyes and Luisa Figueroa on August 16, 1899. He first studied at the Instituto Comercial de Antofagasta.
He travelled to North Chile, then lived in Valparaíso. By the end of 1920, he moved to Santiago, where he began working as a journalist. He wrote for Zig-Zag, Las Últimas Noticias, and Hoy under the nickname "Simbad".
In 1928 he co-founded the magazine Letras along with Ángel Cruchaga Santa María, Manuel Eduardo Hübner, Luis Enrique Délano and Hernán del Solar. According to some researches, this publication would gather the best writers of its time together.
In 1939, President Pedro Aguirre Cerda anointed him as consul in Paris. Eventually he also had high diplomatic positions in Barcelona, London, Rome, Haiti and Athens.
Reyes was member of the Chilean Academy of Language between 1960 and 1970.
He obtained the National Literature Prize in 1967. He died in Santiago, on February 27, 1970. His ashes were cast to the sea in front of Antofagasta.

Postmortem recognition

Between 1990 and 1999, his collection was displayed in the Wulff Castle, in Viña del Mar.

Works

The following is a list of his works in their original title, kind and year of publication.