Bolivia

Famous Bolivian People: Bolivian Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

Bolivia is home to outstanding individuals who made a difference with their remarkable achievements.The following people made their mark on both the local and international scenes. They are just some of many famous Bolivians who have lifted Bolivia’s name worldwide and made a difference in our world. Their purpose and stories inspired awe if not greatness.

:: List of Famous People from Bolivia ::

Evo Morales
Evo Morales is the incumbent President of Bolivia and the leader of a political party called the Movement for Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, with the Spanish acronym MAS, meaning “more”). MAS was involved in social protests such as the gas conflict and the Cochabamba protests of 2000, along with many other groups, that are collectively referred to as “social movements” in Bolivia. The MAS aims at giving more power to the country’s indigenous and poor communities by means of land reforms and redistribution of gas wealth.

Morales is also titular president of Bolivia’s cocalero movement – a loose federation of coca growers’ unions, made up of campesinos (rural laborers) who are resisting the efforts of the United States government to eradicate coca in the province of Chapare in central Bolivia.

In October 2009, Morales was named “World Hero of Mother Earth” by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

María Luisa Pacheco
María Luisa Pacheco was an international award winning Bolivian painter who emigrated to the United States. She studied at the Academia de Bellas Artes in La Paz, Bolivia, where she later became a member of its faculty. In the late 1940’s and until 1951, María Luisa worked at the newspaper La Razón as an illustrator and as the editor of their literary section. A scholarship from the Government of Spain allowed María Luisa Pacheco to continue her studies in 1951 and 1952, as a graduate student at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain.

In 1956, María Luisa Pacheco was the recipient of three consecutive Fellowship Awards from the Guggenheim Foundation in New York City. The first fellowship awarded coincided with an invitation to exhibit at the Museum of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington DC. As a result of both of those opportunities, María Luisa Pacheco moved to New York in 1956. The Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and also the OAS exhibit each included the acquisition of a María Luisa Pacheco painting for their permanent art collections. Those paintings are currently exhibited in the art museums of those organizations, as part of the periodic rotation of their permanent collections. In New York, María Luisa became famous for her masterful abstract paintings, inspired by the native Quechua and Aymara people of Bolivia and the majestic glaciers and peaks of the Andes Mountains. The content of many of her paintings was her interpretation of the brilliant light, the strong colors, the sharp forms and the texture of her native Bolivia.

Alfredo Da Silva
Alfredo Da Silva is a famous Bolivian painter, graphic artist, and photographer, known for his abstract expressionism. He came to international prominence in 1959.

Marina Núñez del Prado
Marina Núñez del Prado was one of the most respected sculptors from Latin America. Her work is highly sensuous, with rolling curves. She carved from native Bolivian woods, as well as black granite, alabaster, basalt and white onyx. Perhaps one of her most famous works is “White Venus” (1960), a stylized female body in white onyx. Another celebrated work is “Mother and Child,” sculpted in white onyx. Indigenous Bolivian cultures inspired much of her work.

Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante is regarded as one of the most famous educators in the United States. The 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, which dramatized Escalante’s efforts to help underachieving Latino students beat the odds and pass an advanced placement calculus test, has already become one of the classic films about American education. As a result of its faithfulness to life, the film is a profound tribute to the positive impact a good teacher can make.

In recognition of his incredible achievements, Escalante was awarded the United States Presidential Medal and the Andres Bello award by the Organization of American States.