Mariano Picón Salas

Mariano Picón Salas (Mérida, January 26, 1901 - Caracas, January 1, 1965) was a Venezuelan writer, diplomat, and academic. His work includes historical essays, literary criticism, and cultural histories of Latin America. He is considered one of the most universal Latin American intellectuals of the twentieth century. Besides his work as a writer and essayist, Picón Salas stood out for his work as an educator and politician. He founded and was the first dean of the Department of Humanities and Education at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was also Director of Culture and Fine Arts of the Ministry of Education (1938-1940), Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia (1947-1949), Brazil (1958-1959), and UNESCO (1959-1963), and Secretary of the Presidency during the last year of the constitution period of Rómulo Betancourt (1963-1964). His vast body of work includes the books Hispanoamérica: posición crítica, literatura y actitud americana (Santiago de Chile, 1931), De la conquista a la independencia (Mexico City, 1944), Europa-América, preguntas a la esfinge de la cultura (Mexico City, 1947), Comprensión de Venezuela (Caracas, 1949), Regreso de tres mundos: un hombre en su generación (Mexico City, 1959), and Hora y Deshora. Temas humanísticos; nombres y figuras, viajes y lugares (Caracas, 1963).