Contents
Alejo Carpentier
Writing The Kingdom of This World and developing the idea of the marvellous real.
The Kingdom of This World · The Lost Steps
- Born
- 26 December 1904
- Birthplace
- Lausanne, Switzerland
- Died
- April 1980
More people
Alejo Carpentier
Cuban novelist and musicologist whose fiction joins Caribbean history, elaborate language and extraordinary events rooted in lived culture.
Early life
A multilingual home
Born to a French father and Russian mother and raised largely in Cuba.
An early change
Began studying architecture before turning to journalism and cultural criticism.
Career
- 1920s
Journalism in Havana
Worked in magazines and cultural movements; imprisonment under Machado preceded his move to Paris.
- 1928–1959
Writing abroad
Lived in France and Venezuela while developing his major fiction and music research.
- 1959–1970s
Cultural public service
Returned to revolutionary Cuba and later represented it diplomatically in France.
Selected work
The Kingdom of This World
A novel of the Haitian Revolution and the beliefs surrounding it.
The Lost Steps
A musician’s journey into South America becomes a search for origins.
Explosion in a Cathedral
The French Revolution reaches the Caribbean through the lives of young islanders.
Beyond work
Music scholarship
Studied Cuban musical history and worked extensively in radio.
Political commitments
Opposed Machado’s dictatorship and later supported the Cuban Revolution.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and references ↗Biography and contributions ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
