Alberto Cañas Escalante (16 March 1920 – 14 June 2014) was a politician, writer, intellectual, public servant, and journalist from San José, Costa Rica.

He is known as one of the most important figures in the cultural, political, and social life of Costa Rica during the latter half of the twentieth century.

He attended elementary school at the Edificio Metálico (Metal Building), a San José landmark.

Because he was concerned largely with social questions, Cañas joined the Center for the Study of National Problems.

In the 1946, Cañas wrote "Elegía Inmóvil" ("Unmoving Elegy"), a book-length poem that brought him international attention, although he would shortly thereafter abandon poetry to focus on politics and letters.

He was Vice Minister of International Relations from 1955 to 1956 and a San José deputy for the National Liberation Party from 1962 until 1966.

Since 1967, Cañas has served as a chairperson of the Language Academy of Costa Rica, a position which has since been made permanent.

Additionally, he hosted "Así es la cosa" ("Here's the Thing") on Radio Monumental, alongside Fernando Durán and Álvaro Fernández.

Cañas also wrote "Chisporroteos" (Crackles), a newspaper column for more than forty years which made him one of Costa Rica's most prolific authors.