The Most Famous

WRITERS from Colombia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Colombian Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 9 of which were born in Colombia. This makes Colombia the birth place of the 71st most number of Writers behind Kazakhstan, and New Zealand.

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Colombian Writers of all time. This list of famous Colombian Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

Photo of Gabriel García Márquez

1. Gabriel García Márquez (1927 - 2014)

With an HPI of 86.19, Gabriel García Márquez is the most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 162 different languages on wikipedia.

Gabriel José García Márquez (Latin American Spanish: [ɡaˈβɾjel ɣaɾˈsi.a ˈmaɾ.kes] ; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo ([ˈɡaβo]) or Gabito ([ɡaˈβito]) throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, particularly in the Spanish language, he was awarded the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. He pursued a self-directed education that resulted in leaving law school for a career in journalism. From early on he showed no inhibitions in his criticism of Colombian and foreign politics. In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha Pardo; they had two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo. García Márquez started as a journalist and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories. He is best known for his novels, such as No One Writes to the Colonel (1961), One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), which has sold over fifty million copies worldwide, Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981), and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style known as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in the fictional village of Macondo (mainly inspired by his birthplace, Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude. He is the most-translated Spanish-language author. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts". He was the fourth Latin American to receive the honor, following Chilean poets Gabriela Mistral (1945) and Pablo Neruda (1971), as well as Guatemalan novelist Miguel Ángel Asturias (1967). Alongside Jorge Luis Borges, García Márquez is regarded as one of the most renowned Latin American authors in history. Upon García Márquez's death in April 2014, Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, called him "the greatest Colombian who ever lived."

Photo of Nicolás Gómez Dávila

2. Nicolás Gómez Dávila (1913 - 1994)

With an HPI of 65.83, Nicolás Gómez Dávila is the 2nd most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Nicolás Gómez Dávila (18 May 1913 – 17 May 1994) was a Colombian philosopher and aphorist sometimes referred to as "Nietzsche from the Andes." For a long time not appearing particularly interested in a mass propagation of his work, Gómez Dávila remained an obscure figure until the final few years of his life, when translations attracted important attention, mainly in German-speaking countries. He was one of the most radical critics of modernity whose work consists almost entirely of aphorisms which he called "escolios" ("scholia" or "glosses").

Photo of Álvaro Mutis

3. Álvaro Mutis (1923 - 2013)

With an HPI of 63.86, Álvaro Mutis is the 3rd most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Álvaro Mutis Jaramillo (August 25, 1923 – September 22, 2013) was a Colombian poet, novelist, and essayist. His best-known work is the novel sequence The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, which revolves around the character of Maqroll el Gaviero. He won the 1991 International Nonino Prize in Italy. He was awarded the 2001 Miguel de Cervantes Prize and the 2002 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

Photo of Samael Aun Weor

4. Samael Aun Weor (1917 - 1977)

With an HPI of 61.93, Samael Aun Weor is the 4th most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Samael Aun Weor (Hebrew: סמאל און ואור; March 6, 1917 – December 24, 1977), born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was a teacher and author of over sixty books of esoteric spirituality. He formed a new religious movement under the banner of "Universal Gnosticism", or simply gnosis, and taught the practical and esoteric principles to awaken and fundamentally change the psychological condition. He first made a name in the Gnosticism of his native country of Colombia, before moving to Mexico in 1956, where his movement gained increased popularity, and his works became popular among practitioners of occultism and Western esotericism, and were translated into other languages. His doctrine is studied widely to this day. In 1948, Gómez referred to himself as the name of his being, Aun Weor, which means "the verb or messenger of God." In 1954, after undergoing a ceremony he described as the birth of "Inner Christ," he adopted the name of Samael Aun Weor, which he used until his death in 1977. Samael Aun Weor referred to his teachings as "The Doctrine of Synthesis", which not only emphasizes the existence of the perennial philosophy, but that its highest teleological function is the accomplishment of "Christification" and "Final Liberation".

Photo of Jorge Isaacs

5. Jorge Isaacs (1837 - 1895)

With an HPI of 58.11, Jorge Isaacs is the 5th most famous Colombian Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Jorge Isaacs Ferrer (April 1, 1837 – April 17, 1895) was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish-language literature.

Photo of José Eustasio Rivera

6. José Eustasio Rivera (1888 - 1928)

With an HPI of 56.02, José Eustasio Rivera is the 6th most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

José Eustasio Rivera Salas (February 19, 1888 – December 1, 1928) was a Colombian lawyer and author primarily known for his national epic The Vortex.

Photo of Fernando Vallejo

7. Fernando Vallejo (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 55.48, Fernando Vallejo is the 7th most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Fernando Vallejo Rendón (born 1942 in Medellín, Colombia) is a Colombian-born novelist, filmmaker and essayist. He obtained Mexican nationality in 2007.

Photo of Juan Gabriel Vásquez

8. Juan Gabriel Vásquez (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 50.09, Juan Gabriel Vásquez is the 8th most famous Colombian Writer.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez (born 1973) is a Colombian writer, journalist and translator. He has written many novels, short stories, literary essays, and numerous articles of political commentary. His novel The Sound of Things Falling, published in Spanish in 2011, won the Alfaguara Novel Prize and the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award, among other prizes. His novels have been published in 28 languages. In 2012, after living in Europe for sixteen years, in Paris, the Belgian Ardennes, and Barcelona, Vásquez moved with his family back to Bogotá.

Photo of Laura Restrepo

9. Laura Restrepo (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 49.90, Laura Restrepo is the 9th most famous Colombian Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Laura Restrepo (born 1950 in Bogotá, Colombia) is a Colombian author who began writing what were mainly political columns in her mid-twenties. Her first novel, Isle of Passion, is based on historical deeds that occurred on Clipperton Island.

People

Pantheon has 9 people classified as Colombian writers born between 1837 and 1973. Of these 9, 3 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Colombian writers include Fernando Vallejo, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, and Laura Restrepo. The most famous deceased Colombian writers include Gabriel García Márquez, Nicolás Gómez Dávila, and Álvaro Mutis. As of April 2024, 9 new Colombian writers have been added to Pantheon including Gabriel García Márquez, Nicolás Gómez Dávila, and Álvaro Mutis.

Living Colombian Writers

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Deceased Colombian Writers

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Newly Added Colombian Writers (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Writers were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Writers since 1700.