Ricardo Palma

Ricardo Palma (1833–1919) was a Peruvian writer, historian, journalist, lexicographer and librarian. The official account places his birth in Lima on February 7, 1833, though some evidence points elsewhere. He was educated at a Jesuit school, served for six years in the Peruvian navy, and took part in liberal politics, which led to exile in Chile from 1860 until 1862. He began young: at fifteen he edited a satirical newssheet, El Diablo, and his first book of verse, Poesías, appeared in 1855.

His lasting fame rests on the tradiciones, short pieces that mix history and fiction, written to amuse and to educate. Published in volumes from 1872 to 1910, the Tradiciones peruanas range over several centuries, especially colonial and republican Peru. Palma also rebuilt the National Library of Peru after it was ransacked during the War of the Pacific, directing it until 1912. He died in Lima in 1919. His son Clemente and daughter Angélica also became writers.

Reading Ricardo Palma to learn Spanish

Palma wrote in nineteenth-century Spanish, in the tradition of Romanticism and literary Costumbrism, and his pieces are short stories that blend history with invention. Expect a lively, storytelling voice that draws on oral anecdote and hearsay, along with some older colonial vocabulary and references to Peruvian history that may need a glance at the English beside the text. Because each tradición is brief, you can finish one in a single sitting. Paralelo offers Tradiciones peruanas, about 218 minutes of reading in all, aligned phrase by phrase with the English. Start with a single piece rather than the whole book, and let the parallel text carry you through unfamiliar period words.