M. Rigoberto (Manuel Rigoberto) Paredes

Born in Carabuco, La Paz, on April 17, 1870, Manuel Rigoberto Paredes Iturri became one of Bolivia’s early major writers on history, ethnography, and folklore. He is often described as a precursor to Bolivian anthropological and folkloric studies, thanks to the way he documented customs, beliefs, and social life alongside political and historical subjects.

Paredes wrote across several fields, combining the work of historian, sociologist, ethnographer, and public intellectual. Among his known books is El arte folklórico de Bolivia (1949), a late work that reflects his lasting interest in popular culture and traditional expression. His writing focused especially on Bolivia’s indigenous communities and regional traditions, helping preserve material that might otherwise have been lost.

He died in 1950. Today, he is remembered as an important early interpreter of Bolivian society whose work connected scholarship with lived culture, making the country’s folklore and historical memory central subjects of serious study.