Esteban Echeverria was born in 1805 and died in 1851. Though he lived a rather short life, his contributions to literary process can hardly be overestimated, as Echeverria’s works are considered the first of Argentinian prose fiction.
Echeverria was a representative of romanticism, a brilliant poet, writer and public figure. Having received a good education at home in Buenos Aires he went to continue his study in Paris, where he got acquainted with the works of Schiller, Goethe and other European romantics, and the young man's romantic spirit was captured by the ideas of utopian socialism. The acquaintance with these works determined his further development as a writer and poet.
His first attempts in writing are recognized as signature romanticism, though glory came to him when he had written a realistic short story The Slaughteryard, which introduced features of realism to Latin American prose for the first time. The story is of the greatest significance for the entirety of Latin American Literature, as it was a real breakthrough in world view of the Argentinians in terms of its disturbing political message.
Esteban Echeverria’s The Slaughteryard is read and studied till today, and is the source of admiration for both writers and readers.
