Jorge Núñez Sánchez facts for kids
Jorge Núñez Sánchez (born February 6, 1947 – died November 1, 2020) was an important writer, historian, and professor from Ecuador. He was known for his many books and his teaching.
He wrote 56 books by himself and helped write 66 other books. In 2010, he won a big national award in Ecuador called the Premio Eugenio Espejo for his work in culture.
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Early Life and Education
Jorge Núñez Sánchez was born in Magdalena, a town in Bolívar Province, Ecuador. His parents were Tirso Núñez Moya and Amada Sánchez García.
In 1970, he married Susana Grijalva Chacón. They later divorced.
Becoming a Professor
From 1973 to 1975, he worked as an assistant professor at the Central University of Ecuador. He was in charge of the department that studied social and economic issues.
In 1975, he won a scholarship to study in Mexico. He became a researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH). He was studying "oligarchy and imperialism," which means how powerful families or groups control a country and how big countries influence smaller ones. However, due to a money crisis in Mexico in 1976, his scholarship ended, and he returned to Quito.
Important Books and Research
When he came back to Ecuador, Jorge Núñez Sánchez had enough information to write a book called "The Endless War: United States vs Latin America" (1980). This book talked about how the United States had interfered in Latin American countries, like Nicaragua, Cuba, and Grenada.
He also wrote a well-known book called "Myth of Independence" (1976). This book explained how, during the wars for independence, powerful families in the Royal Audience of Quito gained political power. They already had a lot of money and influence.
Teaching and Writing Career
In 1977, he became a full-time professor at the Central University of Ecuador. He taught about social and economic problems in Ecuador and Latin America, and about the history of cities in Latin America. He continued teaching there until he passed away.
In 1979, he went to Nicaragua as a reporter for a newspaper. He saw firsthand the fight of the Nicaraguan people against the Somoza dictatorship. He spent two months there. That same year, he published "The History of Ecuadorian Political Parties."
In 1981, he helped organize a big meeting of historians from Latin America and the Caribbean in Quito. He was chosen as the Executive Secretary of that group. In 1983, he joined a political party called the Democratic Left. He was also invited to Cuba, where his work about U.S. actions in Latin America was published in "Gramma," a major newspaper.
More Research and Publications
In 1984, he was re-elected as the Secretary of the historians' association. He was also hired to lead a research project about the history of social security in Ecuador. This project resulted in a large book called "History of the Ecuadorian Social Security." It included facts and numbers about the institution since it started in 1928.
In 1985, he married Jenny Londoño López. That year, he also published "Nicaragua, the Invincible Trench."
Government Role and Later Works
From 1988 to 1989, Jorge Núñez Sánchez served as the Deputy Secretary of Culture for Ecuador. He also led the National Council of Culture during President Rodrigo Borja's time in office.
In 1989, he received a scholarship to study in Seville, Spain. He spent a year researching in the Archive of the Indies, which holds many historical documents. There, he wrote a long study called "History of the Ecuadorian Oligarchy 1750-1912." He finished this study in 1992. He also gave a history lecture at the Cultural Center of Madrid. In 1989, he published "Historical Consciousness of Andrés Bello" in Quito.
International Recognition
In 1990, he was elected president of the Association of Latin American and Caribbean Historians (ADHILAC) during a meeting in São Paulo. In 1991, he published a book called "Interview with Simon Bolivar," which was a fictional story where the liberator goes into exile.
He also published "The Thought of Jose Peralta" in 1991, which included Peralta's work on slavery in Latin America. In 1992, he became the director of the History and Geography Department at the House of Ecuadorian Culture. He also published "Towards a Latin American theory of History."
Since 1993, he traveled every year as a visiting professor to universities in Brazil and Mexico. He taught liberal arts courses there. In 1993, he published "Essays on the history of ideas in Latin America." This book included five essays about important figures like Simon Bolivar and Eloy Alfaro, and about how ideas developed in the Americas. He also published "The Noontime Country," a collection of articles he had written for newspapers and magazines. He also helped write the book "New History of Ecuador."
Jorge Núñez Sánchez was a professor at the Central University of Ecuador and the Treasurer of the National Academy of History.
He passed away on November 1, 2020, at the age of 73, due to cancer.
