Fernando Alegría papers, 1924-2000, bulk 1940-1998

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Summary

Title:
Fernando Alegría papers
Subtitle:
Alegría (Fernando)
Dates:
1924-2000, bulk 1940-1998
Creators:
Alegría, Fernando, 1918-2005
Abstract:
The collection contains correspondence with virtually every prominent literary figure in Latin America during the mid-to-late Twentieth Century, including Pablo Neruda, Salvador Allende, Augusto Roa Bastos, Jaime Alazraki, Isabel Allende, Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo, Nicanor Parra, and many others. Also includes correspondence with North American authors such as Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, as well as Linus Pauling.The collection also contains numerous manuscripts by Alegria and other Latin American authors, including Raul Barrientos, Jorge Bernales, Alejo Carpentier, Joaquim-Francisco Coelho, Roque Dalton, Humberto Diaz-Casanueva, Juan Armando Epple, Mario Antonio Espinosa, Ricardo Israel, Reynaldo Jimenez, Luis Merino, and Pablo Neruda.
Extent:
59 Linear Feet (93 manuscript boxes, 2 half boxes, 4 flat boxes, 2 video boxes, 2 reel boxes, 2 cassette boxes, and 5 map folders)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Fernando Alegría papers (M0651). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains correspondence with virtually every prominent literary figure in Latin America during the mid-to-late Twentieth Century, including Pablo Neruda, Salvador Allende, Augusto Roa Bastos, Jaime Alazraki, Isabel Allende, .Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo, Nicanor Parra, and many others. Also includes correspondence with North American authors such as Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, as well as Linus Pauling.

The collection also contains numerous manuscript items as well as copies of printed works by Alegria and various Latin American authors, including Raul Barrientos, Jorge Bernales, Alejo Carpentier, Joaquim-Francisco Coelho, Roque Dalton, Humberto Diaz-Casanueva, Juan Armando Epple, Mario Antonio Espinosa, Ricardo Israel, Reynaldo Jimenez, Luis Merino, Pablo Neruda, Frederick Nunn, Roberto Quesada, Louis Marcos Rodriguez, Bernardo Subercaseaux, and Ines Villafa?e Le?n amongst others.

The collection also contains extensive subject files on notable Latin American authors, his notebooks, diaries and calendars. It also contains documentation on various international Latin American writer's conferences.

The collection also contains more than 3,000 photographs and slides of Alegria, his family, various authors and other literary figures, as well as images used in his various books.

The collection includes a series of 31 political posters from the 1960's with additional posters for readings given by Alegria from the 1970's through the 1980's, as well as performances by Chilean cultural groups, such as Inti-Illimani.

Biographical / historical:

Fernando Alegria, born September 16, 1918 in Santiago, Chile, to Santiago Alegria Toro and Julia Alfaro, is a poet, novelist and educator. He married Carmen Letona Melendez on Jan. 29, 1943. Together they had four children: Carmen, Daniel, Andres, and Isabel.

Alegria received his M.A. from Bowling Green State University in 1941 and his Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in 1947. He taught as a professor at the University of Chile, 1939; as an instructor at Bowling Green State University, 1940-1941; as an instructor, 1947-1949, as an assistant professor, 1949-1955, as an associate professor, 1955-1963, and as a professor, 1964-1967 at University of California at Berkeley; and as a professor at Stanford University from 1967-1998.

From 1970 through 1973, Alegria served as cultural attach? from the government of Salvador Allende to the United States, using his home in Berkeley, California as his base of operations in this capacity.

Alegria's organizational affiliations include the Instituto Internacional de Literature Iberoamericana ; the American Association of Teachers of Spanish; and the Sociedad de Escritores.

He was a Guggenheim Fellow, 1947-1948; he won the Latin American Prize of Literature, 1943; as well as the Premio Atenea and Premio Municipal.

He published extensively; his works include Recabarren, 1938; Ideas esteticas de la poesia moderna, 1939; Ensayo sobre cinco temas de Thomas Mann, 1949; Walt Whitman en Hispanoamerica, 1954; Caballo de copas, 1957; My Horse Gonzales, 1964; Historia de la novela hispanoamericana, 1965; Genio y figura de Gabriela Mistral, 1966; Los dias contados, 1968; Los mejores cuentos de Fernando Alegria, 1968; Amerika, 1970; Coral de Guerra, 1979; El Paso de los gansos, 1980; The Chilean Spring, 1980.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Fernando Alegria, 1989 and his son, Daniel S. Alegria, 2000.
Physical location:
Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged three business days in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Steven Mandeville-Gamble
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-25 09:38:11 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Fernando Alegría papers (M0651). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
specialcollections@stanford.edu
Website