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This is a list of notable Latin American people. In alphabetical order within categories.
[edit] Actors
[edit] Architects and urbanists
Luis Barragán (1902–1988), 1980 Pritzker Prize Laureate.
Lúcio Costa (1902-1998), architect and urbanist, creator of Brasília.
Mathias Klotz (b. 1965).
Ricardo Legorreta (b. 1931), 2000 AIA Gold Medal Laureate.
Paulo Mendes da Rocha (b. 1928), architect, winner of the 2006 Pritzker Prize.
Oscar Niemeyer (b. 1907), architect of international renown, designer of Brasilia.
César Pelli (b. 1926), 1995 AIA Gold Medal Laureate, Petronas Towers architect.
Antonio Rivas Mercado (1853–1927).
Carlos Raúl Villanueva (1900–1975), designed the Ciudad Universitaria of Caracas, declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2000.
[edit] Artists
- See also List of Latin American artists.
[edit] Film directors
[edit] Leaders and politicians
Óscar Arias Sánchez (b. 1940), statesman, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1987).
Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), Libertador and statesman, leader of the South American Wars of Independence.
Anastasio Bustamante (1780-1853), President of Mexico (1930–1932; 1837–1841).
Plutarco Elías Calles (1877–1945), founder of the PRI (1929); President of Mexico (1924–1928).
Fidel Castro (b. 1926), marxist revolutionary and Cuba's state ruler since 1959.
Alfonso García Robles (1911–1991), diplomat and politician, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1982).
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928–1967), marxist revolutionary.
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811), cleric and statesman, chief instigator of Mexico's war of independence against Spain.
Benito Juárez (1806–1872), President of Mexico (1861–1863; 1867–1872).
Juscelino Kubitschek (1902–1976), President of Brazil (1956–1961).
José Martí (1853–1895), writer and leader of the Cuban Independence movement.
Rigoberta Menchú (b. 1959), activist, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1992).
Chico Mendes (1944–1988), murdered rural leader and martyr of ecological movements in the Amazon.
Pedro I (1798–1834), Emperor of Brasil (1822–1831).
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (b. 1920), diplomat, United Nations Secretary-General (1982–1991).
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (b. 1931), activist, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1980).
Juan Domingo Perón (1895–1974), President of Argentina (1946–1952; 1952–1955; 1973–1974).
Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1878–1959), academic and politician, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1936).
José de San Martín (1778–1850), Libertador and statesman, leader of the South American Wars of Independence.
Pancho Villa (1878–1923), guerrilla leader of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917).
Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919), leading figure of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917).
[edit] Military
[edit] Musicians
Gilberto Gil (b. 1942), singer and composer; founder of the Tropicália movement.
Rafael Hernández (1892–1965), composer.
Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), pianist, singer and composer.
Agustín Lara (1900–1970), composer.
Ernesto Lecuona (1896–1963), composer, pianist and conductor.
Vinicius de Moraes (1913–1980), singer and composer.
Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992), tango composer.
Tito Puente (1923–2000), Latin jazz and mambo musician.
Omar Rodríguez-López (b. 1975), guitarist.
Carlos Santana (b. 1947), composer, songwriter and guitarist.
Lalo Schifrin (b. 1932), composer and pianist.
Caetano Veloso (b. 1942), singer and composer; founder of the Tropicália movement.
Lito Vitale (b. 1961), composer and performer.
Atahualpa Yupanqui (1908–1992), folk musician.
[edit] Classical
[edit] Singers
Desi Arnaz (1917–1986), salsa singer.
Celia Cruz (1924–2003), salsa singer.
Gloria Estefan (b. 1957), singer and songwriter.
José Feliciano (b. 1945), singer-songwriter.
Juan Gabriel (born 1950), ranchera and ballad singer-songwriter.
Juan Luis Guerra (b. 1957), Singer and songwriter.
Carlos Gardel (1890–1935), tango singer.
Pedro Infante (1917–1957)
Víctor Jara (1932–1973), singer-songwriter.
Juanes (b. 1972), singer-songwriter.
Jorge Negrete (1911–1953)
Roberto Carlos (b. 1941), singer and songwriter.
Shakira (b. 1977), Latin Pop singer and songwriter.
[edit] Philosophers and humanists
Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810–1884), political theorist.
Andrés Bello (1781–1865), humanist, poet, lawmaker, philosopher, educator and philologist.
Leonardo Boff (b. 1938), one of the most known first Liberation theologians.
Mario Bunge (b. 1919), philosopher, author of the Treatise on Basic Philosophy (8 volumes, 1974–1989).
Miguel Antonio Caro (1843–1909), humanist, linguist and politician.
Rufino José Cuervo (1844–1911), philologist and linguist.
José Ingenieros (1877–1925), philosopher, sociologist and science theoretician.
Enrique Krauze (b. 1947), historian, political and social essayist and publisher.
Manuel de Landa (b. 1952), philosopher, professor at Columbia University.
Humberto Maturana (b. 1928), major proponent of the embodied philosophy.
Edmundo O'Gorman (1906–1995), philosopher.
Francisco Varela (1946–2001), major proponent of the embodied philosophy.
José Vasconcelos (1882–1959), thinker, educator and essayist.
[edit] Science and technology
Manuel de Abreu (1894–1962), physician and scientist, inventor of abreugraphy.
Joseph M. Acaba ( b. 1967), First Puerto Rican astronaut.
Luis Agote (1868–1954), physician and researcher, first doctor in Latin America to perform a non-direct blood transfusion using sodium citrate as an anticoagulant.
José Santana (b. 1962) specialist in technology and development; Executive Director of the Dominican Republic Presidential Commission of Science and Technology and Research Associate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ricardo Alegría (b. 1921), physical anthropologist, pioneer in the anthropolic studies of the Taino culture.
Baruj Benacerraf (b. 1920), immunologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1980).
Fernando Caldeiro (b. 1958), NASA astronaut.
Nabor Carrillo Flores (1911-1967), nuclear physicist.
Franklin Chang-Diaz ( b.1950), NASA astronaut who flown seven spaceflights.
Nitza Margarita Cintron (b. 1950), chief of NASA's (JSC) Space and Health Care Systems Office.
Jacinto Convit (b. 1913), medical scientist, discoverer of vaccines against leprosy and leishmaniasis.
Oswaldo Cruz (1872–1917), physician, bacteriologist, epidemiologist and public health officer.
René Favaloro (1923–2000), cardiologist, he created the technique for coronary bypass surgery (1967).
Orlando Figueroa (b. 1955), Director for Mars Exploration and Director for the Solar System Division in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters.
Carlos Finlay (1833–1915), medical scientist, prominent researcher on the yellow fever disease.
Guillermo González Camarena (1917–1965), inventor of an early color television transmission system.
Juan Gundlach (1810–1896), naturalist and taxonomist; over sixty species were named after him.
Guillermo Haro (1913–1988), astrophysicist, made many important contributions to observational Astronomy.
Bernardo Houssay (1887–1971), physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1947).
Miguel de Icaza (b. 1972), free software programmer, best known for starting the GNOME and Mono projects.
Luis Federico Leloir (1906–1987), biochemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1970).
Humberto Maturana (b. 1928), biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis.
César Milstein (1927–2002), biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1984).
Luis E. Miramontes (1925–2004), chemist, co-inventor of the first oral contraceptive (1951).
Mario J. Molina (b. 1943), chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1995).
Rodolfo Neri Vela (b. 1952), Ph.D., NASA payload specialist and astronaut.
Carlos I. Noriega (b. 1959), NASA astronaut.
Manuel Elkin Patarroyo (b. 1947), pathologist, works on improving a vaccine for malaria.
Felipe Poey (1799–1891), zoologist, specialist in ichthyology.
Wilfredo Santa-Gómez, psychiatrist.
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez ( b. 1942), First Cuban cosmonaut
Francisco Varela (1946–2001), biologist, co-author of the theory of autopoiesis.
Klaus von Storch (b. 1962), Chilean aerospace engineer.
[edit] Social scientists
Tulio Halperin (b. 1926), historian.
Eugenio María de Hostos (1839–1903), educator and sociologist.
Miguel León-Portilla (b. 1926), anthropologist and historian, prime authority on Nahuatl thought and literature.
Milton Santos (1926–2001), geographer, writer and university professor.
Hernando de Soto (b. 1941), economist, known for his work on the informal economy.
Julio César Tello (1880–1947), archeologist, specialist in Pre-Columbian Andean cultures.
[edit] Sports
- Boxing
Wilfred Benítez (b. 1958), World Champion in three separate weight divisions, member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 1996.
Jorge Castro (b. 1967), World middleweight Champion.
Julio César Chávez (b. 1962), World Champion (5 titles in 3 different divisions).
Juan Martin Coggi (b. 1961), three time WBA's World Jr. Welterweight Champion.
Roberto Durán (b. 1951), World Champion (6 titles in 4 different divisions); first Hispanic to be four time World Champion.
Víctor Galíndez (1948-1980), World light heavyweight Champion.
Wilfredo Gómez (1956), three time World Champion.
Carlos Cruz (1937-1970), world Lightweight champion.
Carlos Monzón (1942-1995), World middleweight Champion.
John Ruiz (b. 1972), two-time WBA's World Heavyweight Champion.
Félix Trinidad (b. 1973), World Champion.
- Tennis
Maria Bueno (b. 1939), 19 Grand Slam titles winner (7 singles, 12 doubles); International Tennis Hall of Famer since 1978.
Gastón Gaudio (b. 1978), 2004 French Open Men's Singles Champion.
Mary Joe Fernández (b. 1971), 2 Grand Slam Dobles titles winner; Won 2 Olympic Gold Medals and 1 Olympic Bronze Medal.
Andrés Gómez (b. 1960), 1990 French Open Men's Singles Champion.
Gustavo Kuerten, (b. 1976), three-time French Open Men's Singles Champion (1997, 2000 and 2001).
David Nalbandian (b. 1982), 2005 Tennis Masters Cup Champion.
Alex Olmedo (b. 1936), 3 Grand Slam titles winner (2 singles, 1 doubles).
Rafael Osuna (1938–1969), 4 Grand Slam titles winner (1 singles, 3 doubles).
Gabriela Sabatini (b. 1970), 1990 US Open Women's Singles and 1988 Wimbledon Women's Doubles Champion.
Pancho Segura (b. 1921), International Tennis Hall of Famer since 1984.
Paola Suárez (b. 1976), 8 Grand Slam Doubles titles winner.
Guillermo Vilas (b. 1952), 4 Grand Slam Singles titles winner.
[edit] Writers
- See also Latin American writers (by country).
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (1581?-1639), dramatist.
Isabel Allende (b. 1942), best selling novelist.
Julia Julia Álvarez (b. 1950), poet, novelist, and essayist.
Jorge Amado (1912–2001), modernist writer.
Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic.
Angel Luis Arambilet Alvarez (b. 1957), creator of the first Latin American short story using computerized linetext art or ASCII art.
José María Arguedas (1911-1969), novelist.
Roberto Arlt (1900–1942), short-story writer, novelist, and playwright.
Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974), Nobel Prize Laureate (1967).
Mario Benedetti (b. 1920), novelist and poet.
Adolfo Bioy Casares (1914-1999), novelist, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1990).
Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003), novelist, Rómulo Gallegos Prize Laureate (1999).
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Cervantes Prize Laureate (1979).
Alfredo Bryce Echenique (b. 1939), novelist and short stories writer.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929-2005), novelist, essayist, translator, and critic, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1997).
Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980), novelist and essay writer, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1977).
Julio Cortázar (1914-1984), novelist and short stories writer.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648/1651-1695), poet and dramatist.
Rubén Darío (1867-1916), modernist poet.
Virgilio Dávila (1869-1943), poet.
Jorge Edwards (b. 1931), Cervantes Prize Laureate (1999).
Laura Esquivel (b. 1950), novelist.
Rosario Ferré (b. 1938), poet and essayist.
Carlos Fuentes (b. 1928), novelist and essayist, Rómulo Gallegos (1977), Cervantes (1987) and Prince of Asturias (1994) awards Laureate.
Rómulo Gallegos (1884-1969), novelist.
Gabriel García Márquez (b. 1928), novelist and journalist, Nobel Prize Laureate (1982).
Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), poet.
José Hernández (1834–1886), poet and journalist, author of the epic poem Martín Fierro.
Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948), poet, initiator of the Creacionismo movement.
José Lezama Lima (1910-1976), novelist.
Luis Llorens Torres (1878-1944), poet.
Luis López Nieves (b. 1950), best-selling novelist and tale writer.
Dulce María Loynaz (1902-1997), poet, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1992).
Leopoldo Lugones (1874–1938), poet.
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839–1908), realist novelist, poet and short-story writer.
José Martí (1853-1895), poet and essayist.
Gregório de Matos (1636–1696), baroque poet.
Leopoldo Minaya (b. 1963), Miguel de Cervantes Cultural Association Award winner (2001).
Pedro Mir (1913-2000), poet and writer, named Poet Laureate of the Dominican Republic by Congress in 1984.
Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957), poet, Nobel Prize Laureate (1945).
Augusto Monterroso (1921-2003), short stories writer, Prince of Asturias Award Laureate (2000).
Manuel Mujica Láinez (1910–1984), novelist, essayist, journalist and short stories writer; author of Bomarzo (1962).
Álvaro Mutis (b. 1923), poet, novelist, and essayist; Cervantes Prize (2001) and Prince of Asturias Awards (1997) Laureate.
Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), poet, Nobel Prize Laureate (1971).
Amado Nervo (1870–1919), modernist poet.
Juan Carlos Onetti (1909-1994), novelist and short-story writer, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1980).
Fernando del Paso (b. 1935), novelist, essayist and poet, Rómulo Gallegos Prize Laureate (1982).
Octavio Paz (1914-1998), Cervantes Prize (1981) and Nobel Prize (1990) Laureate.
Sergio Pitol (b. 1933), novelist, short stories writer and translator, Cervantes Prize Laureate (2005).
Elena Poniatowska (b. 1932), novelist.
Manuel Puig (1932-1990), novelist, author of The Kiss of the Spider Woman (1976).
Horacio Quiroga (1878-1937), short story writer.
José Eustasio Rivera (1888–1928), poet and novelist.
Augusto Roa Bastos (1917-2005), novelist, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1989).
Gonzalo Rojas (b. 1917), poet, Cervantes Prize Laureate (2003).
Juan Rulfo (1917-1986), novelist, Prince of Asturias Award Laureate (1983).
Ernesto Sabato (b. 1911), novelist and essay writer, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1984).
Jaime Sabines (1926–1999), poet.
Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), postmodernist poet.
Lygia Fagundes Telles (b. 1923), novelist and short-story writer; Camoens Prize Laureate (2005).
Arturo Uslar-Pietri (1906-2001), novelist, Prince of Asturias Award Laureate (1990).
César Vallejo (1892-1938), poet.
Fernando Vallejo (b. 1942), novelist, Rómulo Gallegos Prize Laureate (2003).
Mario Vargas Llosa (b. 1936), novelist and essayist, Cervantes Prize Laureate (1994).
"El Inca" Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616), first mestizo author in Spanish language.
Xavier Villaurrutia (1903–1950), poet.
Gabriel Zaid (b. 1934), poet and essayist.
[edit] Others
[edit] Lists by nationality
[edit] See also