José Carlos Mariátegui

José Carlos Mariátegui La Chira (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˌse ˌkaɾ.loz maˌɾja.t̪e.ɣ̞i la ˈt͡ʃi.ɾa]; June 14, 1894 – April 16, 1930), sometimes referred to in Peru as El Amauta (from Quechua: hamawt'a, "teacher"), was a Peruvian writer, sociologist, historian, journalist, politician, and Marxist philosopher. A prolific author despite his early death, Mariátegui is considered one of the greatest scholars of Latin America. His Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian Reality (1928), a synthesis of his thought, became a reference work for the intelligentsia of the continent.

He was the founder of the Peruvian Socialist Party (PSP) and the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) in 1928 and 1929 respectively. The PSP initially adhered to Mariateguism for a syndicalist-influenced socialism "without tracing or copying," but after Mariategui's death, it would be reformed as the Peruvian Communist Party to be in-line with the Communist International's rigid party policy and Marxism-Leninism. In 1930 the party wing loyal to Mariategui would split and form the Socialist Party of Peru (Spanish: Partido Socialista del Perú).

For the sociologist and philosopher Michael Löwy, Mariátegui is "undoubtedly the most vigorous and original Marxist thinker that Latin America has ever known." Along the same lines, José Pablo Feinmann, Argentine philosopher and cultural critic, declared him the "greatest Latin American Marxist philosopher."