Benjamín Carrión

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Benjamín Carrión Mora (1897–1979) was an Ecuadorian writer and cultural promoter. He was born into an aristrocatic family in Loja. He was a lawyer by training, and occupied various positions in the public arena, including Minister of Education, legislator, diplomat in several countries of Europe and America, Professor of the Central University, and journalist. He founded the newspaper El Sol with Alfredo Pareja Diezcanseco. He became the darling of the Ecuadorian socialists and later communists for his political views. In 1944, he founded the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana (House of Ecuadorian Culture) and became its first President. He put all his passion in the work of the House enagurating the first building in May of 1947, now an icon of the city of Quito. From the beginning he emphasized the Museums, Library and Press. He published the influential literary magazine Letras del Ecuador under the direction of among others, his nephew Alejandro Carrión. The House of the Culture has, in its more than 20 years of work, supported a multitude of writers and painters both inside and outside the country. Though not considered a great writer his legacy stands as Ecuador’s foremost promoter of culture.