Juan Bautista Rivarola Matto


Juan Bautista Rivarola Matto was a Paraguayan journalist, narrator, essayist and playwright who made a great contribution to the culture is spite of living in the times of the dictatorial government in Paraguay, time in which there was hardly any activity related to the literature.

Childhood and youth

He was born in Asunción, on November 12, 1933 in the time of the Chaco War. He was the son of Octaviano Rivarola Bogarín and his wife, Victorina Matto. He was member of a family of former settlers of Paraguay, very attached to the traditions of the country, which he loved immensely.

First steps

He was a student of Juan Pedro Escalada and studied in the Colegio Seminario de San Carlos. He was a member of the armed groups that fought against the dictatorial government of General Alfredo Stroessner in the 1960s.
He studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires and dedicated a great part of his life to scholarship, focusing in history.
Since childhood he was always involved in riots and revolutions. When he was 13 years old there was a civil war in 1947, in which he took part on behalf of the revolutionaries. Like many of his generation, he participated in the political activity of the country, and had to live in exile for more than two decades. He returned to Paraguay in 1979 and worked in journalism until he died in 1992.

Career

In 1979 he returned to Paraguay to stay and started working as a journalist for the Newspaper HOY. In 1980 he co-founded Ediciones NAPA with Alvaro Ayala, the firm closed after four years due to the economic problems in the country. It published forty-two Paraguayan books, opening the gates for Paraguayan authors. He has also written articles and editorials for the Newspaper ABC Color, traveled on several occasions to Europe, where he studied and attended conferences.

Work

Some of his published work:
The later two were awarded ten days after his death and published later in 1994.

Last years

He died in Asunción, on October 14, 1991.