Viriato Díaz Pérez

[1] He was interested in theosophy and Eastern religions,[1] the aesthetics of John Ruskin, the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, Spanish-Paraguayan art and literature, and the lyrics of Gabriele D'Annunzio.

[3] In 1906, Viritao, encouraged by the Paraguayan politician and writer Hérib Campos Cervera, who visited him in Spain, decided to travel to Paraguay.

He was appointed Chief of the National Archive and General Director of the Library and Museum of Fine Arts; additionally, he was a member of the Limits Commission with Bolivia.

He participated in diverse cultural acts of international disclosure with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, United States, Spain, Italy and Germany.

As the Paraguayan delegate to the Congreso de Bibliografía e Hisoria (Congress of Bibliography and History) in 1916 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he presented his work “Polibiblión Paraguayo”, a guide of bibliographic indications about Paraguay.

In 1930, Viritao published “La Asunción” a seminal study called “Las comunidades peninsulares en su relación con los levantamientos comuneros americanos y en especial con la Revolución Comunera del Paraguay” (The peninsular communities in their relation with the raising of the American Comuneros and especially with the Revolución in Paraguay).

His humanist culture, his profound knowledge, and his inexhaustible intellectual activity made him deserving of the respect of students and pairs.