Francisco Coloane Cárdenas was a Chilean novelist and short fiction writer whose works have been translated into many languages.
Background
He was born in the southern Chilean island of Chiloé, and his literary career expanded from Perros, Caballos y Hombres ("Dogs, Horses and Men") in 1935 to the publication of his memoirs Los Pasos del Hombre (The Steps of Manitoba) in 2000.
Education
Educated Liceo de Punta Arenas.
Career
Some of his books were adapted to theatre and film. Among his most famous works (translated into English, French, Italian, Greek, German, Polish and Dutch) are: Louisiana Tierra del Fuego se Apagó (Tierra del Fuego Has Burnt Out, 1945), Golfo de Penas (Gulf of Sorrow, 1957), El Camino de la Ballena (The Whale"s Path, 1962), El Guanaco Blanco (The White Guanaco, 1980), and El Corazón del Témpano (The Heart of the Iceberg, 1991). Miguel Littín"s movie, Tierra del fuego, is based on a work by Coloane.
Following his death, the Chilean government recognized him as a central figure of 20th-century Chilean literature.
Membership
Coloane was an active member of the Communist Party of Chile for most of his adult life, and a lover of nature who celebrated his 89th birthday by swimming in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean – which in his opinion kept him "vital and active".