Félix Luna
| Félix Luna | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 30, 1925 La Rioja Province |
| Died | November 5, 2009 (aged 84) Buenos Aires |
| Resting place | Buenos Aires |
| Occupation | Historian, Writer, Lyricist |
| Language | Spanish |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Citizenship | Argentina |
| Alma mater | University of Buenos Aires |
| Period | 19th and 20th Centuries |
| Genre | History |
| Subject | Argentina's History |
| Notable works | Todo es Historia, Presidential Biographies, Brief History of the Argentines |
| Notable awards | Illustrious Citizen of Buenos Aires, Ordre national du Mérite, Konex Award |
Félix Luna (September 30, 1925 – November 5, 2009) was a prominent Argentine writer, lyricist and historian.
Luna was born in Buenos Aires to a family originally from La Rioja Province, in 1925. A grandfather had founded the La Rioja chapter of the newly established centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR) in 1892, and an uncle, Pelagio Luna, had been Vice President of Argentina for President Hipólito Yrigoyen, between 1916 and 1919. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a law degree in 1951. He was first published in 1954, with his biographical work, Yrigoyen. Opposed, as most in the UCR were, to the populist President Juan Perón, Luna, after the 1955 overthrow of Perón, was appointed as Director of the Ministry of Labor's Employee Benefits Plan in 1956. Luna received his first literary prize in 1957 for his period tale, La fusilación (The Firing Squad); set in the nineteenth century, the work followed the controversial 1956 execution of General Juan José Valle and 27 others. This was followed by a biography of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, Yrigoyen's chief rival within the UCR, in 1958.
He taught as Professor of the History of Institutions at his alma mater's Law School between 1963 and 1976, and Contemporary History Professor at the private University of Belgrano between 1967 and 1986. Continuing to write, some of his best-known works from this period were Los caudillos, a look at provincial strongmen of the 19th and early 20th centuries (1966), El 45, referring to the pivotal year 1945 in Argentina (1968), and Argentina: de Perón a Lanusse, an overview of the tumultuous generation between Perón's 1945 advent and 1973.
Luna collaborated with pianist and composer Ariel Ramírez as a lyricist for what arguably became the best-known work for either man: the (Creole Mass), in 1964. This joint success was followed by Mujeres Argentinas (Argentine Women), in 1969, among whose themes (an ode to the ill-fated poet Alfonsina Storni) became particularly well-known. Ramírez and Luna were joined by traditional folklore vocalist Mercedes Sosa for Cantata Sudamericana, a 1972 album which made the latter an iconic figure in the music of Argentina.
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