Manuel Amunategui. First fifty years of El Comercio

Herane N.L. · Letras (Peru) (2023) · DOI: 10.30920/letras.94.140.10

Resumen

In 1839, the Chilean Manuel Amunátegui, togeth-er with the Argentinean Alejandro Villota, found-ed in the city of Lima the newspaper El Comer-cio, known today as Dean of the National Press. This article, whose main objective is to rescue the figure and journalistic work of this important man for the history of Peruvian journalism, relates the life and intellectual work of Amunátegui intimate-ly linked to the first fifty years (1839-1889) of El Comercio, a newspaper with a clear liberal stance since, from its beginnings, it advocated the ab-olition of slavery, the suppression of indigenous tribute and freedom of the press. However, due to health problems, Amunátegui was forced to sign a partnership agreement in 1876 with José Anto-nio Miró Quesada and Luis Carranza Ayarza, which led to a change in the newspaper’s line towards a commercial and essentially political one. The new phase of El Comercio coincided with the effects of the War of the Pacific in the country, and the dete-rioration of his health. After his death, he was rec-ognised in some newspapers of the time as one of the greatest exponents of Peruvian journalism. His contribution to the training of the new generation of journalists is also highlighted until today.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos