Francisco Coloane

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Francisco Coloane
Francisco Coloane
Born	July 19, 1910 Chiloé, Chile
Died	August 5, 2002 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 and some of his books were adapted to theatre and film.

[edit] 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 and 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 Mittin’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.