Bolivian intellectuals consider Gabriel Bené-Moreno (1836-1908) their most important writer, even though most of his works criticized everything Bolivian. Self-exiled in Chile, he accumulated a magnificent library of books and all sorts of publications about Bolivia, the source for the stream of studies that he poured forth for almost four decades. During the War of the Pacific (1879-84), in which he tried to help his country thwart Chilean designs, he found himself in a delicate situation and wisely traveled in Europe for a while. He then lived in Chile until his death.
The key to understanding the racism, determinism, conservatism, and pro-Spanish bias that characterize Bené-Moreno’s production is to know that he wrote under the aegis of French positivism. He believed that meticulously researching the past made it possible to explain the present. He also sought to analyze Bolivian national psychology, albeit always with the realistic eye of a positivist.
In spite of René-Moreno’s importance for Bolivian culture, Roca’s is the first comprehensive work about him. A noted Bolivian politician, Roca has produced a book above all panoramic and informative, organized into four chapters, an appendix, and an index. Chapter 1 is biographic, and chapter 2 surveys the major themes around which René-Moreno’s work revolved. Chapter 3 briefly describes his epistolary and posthumous works, and chapter 4 reviews Bolivian reaction to his theories. The appendix is the reprint of a bibliography on René-Moreno that includes entries between 1856 and 1961. Regrettably, it was not brought up to date.
Roca’s work is meritorious for having gathered biography, criticism, and bibliography into a single, methodical volume. Particularly interesting are the opinions quoted from supporters and detractors of René-Moreno. Their views tend to confirm the opinion critics hold about him today: a Bolivian patriot who grieved for his hapless country and an eccentric who sought refuge in books and manuscripts. Fatherland and study mattered above everything else, and he devoted his life to both.