Federico González Suárez y Pedro Fermín Cevallos

This is a study of Federico González Suárez (1844-1917), whose Historia general de la república del Ecuador (9 vols., Quito, 1890-1903) was republished in Quito in 1967, and of Pedro Fermín Cevallos (1812-1893), best known for his Resumen de la historia del Ecuador desde su origen hasta 1845 (6 vols., 1st ed., Lima, 1870-1873; 2nd ed., Guayaquil, 1886-1889). The author, Isaac J. Barrera, one of Ecuador’s leading students of letters, has produced a hagiography superficial in coverage, dated and erroneous in bibliographical references, especially on Cevallos. More complete and useful information is available in his earlier works, Historia de la literatura ecuatoriana (4 vols., Quito, 1953-1955) and Historiografía del Ecuador (México, 1956). And for critical appraisal of González Suárez and Cevallos see Gabriel Cevallos García, Reflexiones sobre la historia del Ecuador (2 vols., Cuenca, 1957-1960), I, chapters 2 and 3. Barrera’s new work is an example of the stagnation in Ecuadorian historiography. Hero worship and polemics rather than research and analysis prevail. And for the most part, Ecuador’s older historians are resting on their laurels, while its younger men turn to other pursuits.