José Santos Chocano

Who was José Santos Chocano?

José Santos Chocano Gastañodi was a Peruvian poet and political activist, whose work was widely praised across Europe and Latin America. Chocano interacted with major Spanish poets, as well as statesmen from many different regimes, where he was treated as a poet laureate. He claimed to have rediscovered Latin America through verse in his 1906 collection 'Alma América', which carried an introduction by the distinguished philosopher-poet Miguel de Unamuno. Chocano was involved in many violent feuds with other intellectuals, and was jailed for shooting a journalist who had criticised him. In his turn, Chocano was stabbed to death on a tram in Santiago de Chile by an unknown assailant.