Carlos Luis Fallas facts for kids
Carlos Luis Fallas Sibaja (born January 21, 1909 – died May 7, 1966), also known as Calufa, was a famous writer and political activist from Costa Rica. He was known for fighting for the rights of workers and for his stories that showed the lives of ordinary people in Costa Rica.
Carlos was born in Alajuela and grew up with his single mother. He only went to high school for two years. When he was 16, he moved to Limón, on the Atlantic coast. There, he worked on the banana farms owned by a big company called the United Fruit Company. He found the working conditions very tough.
When he was 22, Carlos returned to Alajuela and became a shoemaker. He soon became very active in helping workers. He joined groups that worked to improve conditions for people who worked hard for little pay. He also became part of the Communist Party of Costa Rica, which believed in a system where everyone shares resources.
In 1933, after a conflict between striking workers and the police, a judge sent him away from his home for a year. He went back to the Atlantic coast. There, in 1934, Carlos became the leader of a huge protest where 15,000 banana workers stopped working to demand fair treatment. This was a very important moment for workers' rights in Costa Rica.
Carlos also became a politician. In 1942, he was elected to the city council, helping to make decisions for his town. In 1944, he became a national congressman, meaning he helped make laws for the whole country. He even fought in the Costa Rican Civil War of 1948, supporting the government forces.
As a writer, Carlos Luis Fallas is best known for two important books. His novel Mamita Yunai (1940) bravely showed the difficult lives of workers on the banana farms. Another famous book is Marcos Ramírez (1952). This humorous story is about a Costa Rican boy growing up in the early 1900s, and it was inspired by Carlos's own childhood. He also wrote other books like Gentes y gentecillas (1947) and Mi madrina (1954).
Even though he didn't finish much school and didn't write many books, Carlos Luis Fallas is one of the most widely read Costa Rican authors. In 1962, he won the William Faulkner Foundation's Ibero-American Novel Prize for Marcos Ramírez. He also received the Magón Prize, which is Costa Rica's highest award for cultural work, shortly before he passed away from kidney cancer at age 57. After his death, in 1977, the Costa Rican Congress honored him as Benemérito de la Patria, which means "Deserving Citizen." This is the highest honor the government can give.
Works
- "Barreteros y otros cuentos" 1987 ISBN: 978-9977230634
- "Mamita Yunai" Novel,1941. ISBN: 978-9977239279
- "Marcos Ramírez" Novel, 1952. ISBN: 978-9977232911
- "Mi madrina" Novel, 1954.
- "Gentes y gentecillas" Novel, 1947.
- "Cuenta Braña: un mecánico comunista en la Europa nazi" ISBN: 978-9977653334
See also
In Spanish: Carlos Luis Fallas para niños
