Doctor Paz and his Biographers: An Assessment of a Half-century of Victor Paz Estenssoro's Lives

Abstract

A half-century of Víctor Paz Estenssoro lives is the subject matter of this article. A close reading of these book-length biographies of the Bolivian President and Revolutionary Leader reveals they share a common narrative pattern. Despite all other differences, biographers feel confident in following a chronological storyboard consistent with the canvas painted and colored beforehand by generalist national historians. Some political, social and cultural clues are never to be lost in a well-rehearsed order of appearance: Family background, Education, First Jobs, Chaco War and its Aftermath, April Revolution, Victory and Revolutionary Administration and Reform, Coup d'Etat, Exile, New Term as President, Reversal of Policy and the 21060 Decree. Within this frame, biographers differ in the availability of unpublished sources, in their closeness or familiarity with Dr. Paz himself, in the short-run aims of their writing, The authors of this essay arrive at two inter-related conclusions: biography is a major form in Bolivian historiographical writing, and a close historiographical study of Dr. Paz biographies is mandatory for any attempt at understanding XXth Century Bolivian Political, Social and Cultural History.