Ramón A. (Ramón Arminio) Laval

Born in San Fernando, Chile, on March 14, 1862, Ramón A. Laval became known as a writer, bibliographer, and one of the country's important early folklorists. He is especially remembered for gathering material from oral tradition and treating popular culture as something worth studying carefully and preserving.

Alongside his literary and research work, he worked in public service, first in the postal system and later at the National Library of Chile, where he remained until his retirement in 1925. That background helped shape his lifelong interest in books, archives, and the history of print.

Laval died in Santiago on October 14, 1929. His legacy lives on through his studies of Chilean folklore, bibliographic work, and compilations that captured legends, tales, and popular knowledge that might otherwise have been lost.