The Most Famous

WRITERS from Venezuela

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This page contains a list of the greatest Venezuelan Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 7,302 Writers, 6 of which were born in Venezuela. This makes Venezuela the birth place of the 78th most number of Writers behind Bangladesh, and Jamaica.

Top 9

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

Photo of Rómulo Gallegos

1. Rómulo Gallegos (1884 - 1969)

With an HPI of 55.53, Rómulo Gallegos is the most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.

Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire (2 August 1884 – 5 April 1969) was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of nine months during 1948, he governed as the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was removed from power by military officers in the 1948 Venezuelan coup. Rómulo Gallegos is considered the most relevant Venezuelan novelist of the 20th century, and a prominent figure in Latin American literature.

Photo of Rafael de Nogales Méndez

2. Rafael de Nogales Méndez (1879 - 1937)

With an HPI of 53.49, Rafael de Nogales Méndez is the 2nd most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Rafael Inchauspe Méndez, known as Rafael de Nogales Méndez (October 14, 1877 in San Cristóbal, Táchira – July 10, 1937 in Panama City) was a Venezuelan soldier, adventurer and writer who served the Ottoman Empire during the Great War (1914–18). He travelled extensively and fought in many of the wars of his age.

Photo of Arturo Uslar Pietri

3. Arturo Uslar Pietri (1906 - 2001)

With an HPI of 49.69, Arturo Uslar Pietri is the 3rd most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Arturo Uslar Pietri (16 May 1906 in Caracas – 26 February 2001) was a Venezuelan intellectual, historian, writer, television producer, and politician.

Photo of Rafael Cadenas

4. Rafael Cadenas (b. 1930)

With an HPI of 47.20, Rafael Cadenas is the 4th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Rafael Cadenas (born 8 April 1930 Barquisimeto, Lara) is a Venezuelan poet and essayist.

Photo of Miguel Otero Silva

5. Miguel Otero Silva (1908 - 1985)

With an HPI of 46.54, Miguel Otero Silva is the 5th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Miguel Otero Silva (October 26, 1908 – August 28, 1985), was a Venezuelan writer, journalist, humorist and politician. A figure of great relevance in Venezuelan literature, his literary and journalistic works related strictly to the socio-political history of Venezuela. Throughout his life he was repeatedly forced into exile. Later on, after the establishment of a democratic state in 1958, he was elected to the Venezuelan Senate.

Photo of Eugenio Montejo

6. Eugenio Montejo (1938 - 2008)

With an HPI of 46.10, Eugenio Montejo is the 6th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Eugenio Montejo (1938 in Caracas – 5 June 2008 in Valencia) was a Venezuelan poet and essay writer, founder of the literary magazine Azar and co-founder of Revista Poesía, a poetry magazine published by the University of Carabobo. He was researcher at the "Rómulo Gallegos" Centre for Latin American Studies in Caracas and contributed to a large number of national and international magazines. In Venezuela he was awarded the National Prize for Literature in 1998 and in 2004 he received the International Octavio Paz Prize for Poetry and Essay. International interest in Montejo's poetry grew after his poem "La Tierra Giró para Acercarnos" ("The Earth Turned to Bring Us Closer") was used in the film 21 Grams by feted Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu. A few lines from the poem are quoted by Sean Penn's character in the movie.

Photo of José Gil Fortoul

7. José Gil Fortoul (1861 - 1943)

With an HPI of 44.57, José Gil Fortoul is the 7th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

José Gil Fortoul (25 November 1861, in Barquisimeto, Lara – 15 June 1943, in Caracas) was a Venezuelan writer, historian, and politician, who was briefly the acting president of Venezuela. As a political scientist and legal scholar, he is closely identified with the movement of Venezuelan positivism. He was an ally of the dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, supporting his regime both politically and in his social and historical writing. In 1913 Fortoul was appointed provisional President of Venezuela, serving for less than a year.

Photo of Boris Izaguirre

8. Boris Izaguirre (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 38.98, Boris Izaguirre is the 8th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Boris Rodolfo Izaguirre Lobo (born 29 September 1965) is a Venezuelan writer, TV host, screenwriter, journalist and showman.

Photo of Francisco Villarroel

9. Francisco Villarroel (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 32.62, Francisco Villarroel is the 9th most famous Venezuelan Writer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Francisco Villarroel (born May 5, 1965) is a Venezuelan lawyer, writer, screenwriter and filmmaker. He is best known for the 2019 film Two Autumns in Paris, which is the adaptation of his novel of the same name published in 2007.

People

Pantheon has 9 people classified as Venezuelan writers born between 1861 and 1965. Of these 9, 3 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Venezuelan writers include Rafael Cadenas, Boris Izaguirre, and Francisco Villarroel. The most famous deceased Venezuelan writers include Rómulo Gallegos, Rafael de Nogales Méndez, and Arturo Uslar Pietri. As of April 2024, 3 new Venezuelan writers have been added to Pantheon including Rafael Cadenas, José Gil Fortoul, and Francisco Villarroel.

Living Venezuelan Writers

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Deceased Venezuelan Writers

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Newly Added Venezuelan 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.