José Miguel Oviedo
José Miguel Oviedo was a Peruvian writer and literary critic, born in Lima. He received his doctorate from the Pontificia Universidad Católica in 1961, afterwards teaching at the same institution. He was a trustee professor at the University of Pennsylvania, taught at other U.S. universities, and was the recipient of important scholarships such as the Rockefeller grant and the Guggenheim fellowship.
Oviedo was best known as a scholar of Peruvian and Latin American literature. His critical surveys covered writers such as Ricardo Palma, Mario Vargas Llosa, and José Martí. He also compiled various anthologies of Peruvian prose and poetry, Cuban short stories, 19th century Latin American short stories, etc. His principal work was a two-volume history of Latin American literature: Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana, split into De los orígenes a la Emancipación and Del Romanticismo al Modernismo.
He also published several short story collections: Soledad & Compañía, La vida maravillosa and Cuaderno imaginario.
The University of Pennsylvania created the "José Miguel Oviedo Undergraduate Student Paper Award in Latin American and Latino Studies" in his honor. He died in Philadelphia, United States, aged 85.
