Press kit
Fernando Báez
Writer, international advisor, strategic speaker
Biographies
Three lengths, ready to copy and paste. No editing required.
Fernando Báez was born in San Félix, Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela. He is a writer, essayist and librarian, and is regarded as a world authority on the history of libraries and on the destruction of written heritage.
His best-known work, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books, is the result of ten years of research supported by universities in Europe and the United States, and has been translated into seventeen languages and published across twenty territories. He is also the author of The Cultural Destruction of Iraq, with a foreword by Noam Chomsky, The Cultural Plundering of Latin America, History of the Ancient Library of Alexandria and the novel The Cambridge Translator. He has translated texts from ancient Greek, among them Aristotle's Poetics.
In 2003 he travelled to Iraq as a member of the international commissions investigating the destruction of libraries and museums after the invasion. He has travelled to fifty-three countries studying phenomena such as iconoclasm, biblioclasm, ethnocide and memoricide, the term he uses for the deliberate destruction of collective memory.
In his own words
Directly quotable. Written by the author.
“I have devoted my life to a subject that both fascinates and horrifies me: cultural destruction. I have scoured villages, archives and libraries on five continents in search of examples of how men have endeavored to erase the traces of their own civilization or that of their neighbors. I refer to the mass murder of memory.”
“I have discovered that cultural destruction is not complete if it is not accompanied by an attack on the symbols of identity, which are the support of dissidence. Whoever doubts his own values, whoever hesitates because his memory is altered, is an easy prey in a conflict.”
“I am just a writer who does not want death to have the last word in his life.”
Key facts
- Born inSan Félix, Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela
- NationalityVenezuelan and Spanish
- EducationDegree in Education. Doctorate in Information and Library Sciences
- LanguagesSpanish, English, ancient Greek
- Translated into17 languages, across 20 publishing territories
- Countries travelled53
- AwardsVintila Horia International Essay Prize · National Culture Prize, Venezuela · Best Foreign Book National Prize, Brazil
- Field workIraq, 2003. International commissions on the destruction of libraries and museums
- Member ofInternational Centre of Arab Studies
- Has lectured atOxford, Cambridge, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Barcelona, Cairo, Doha, Kuwait, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Caracas
- Contributes to press in32 countries
Published work
- 2004 A Universal History of the Destruction of BooksHistoria universal de la destrucción de libros Destino, Spain · Océano and Debate, Latin America · Atlas & Co., United States · Fayard, France · Can Yayınları, Türkiye · and thirteen further territories. English edition ISBN 9781934633243.
- 2004 The Cultural Destruction of IraqLa destrucción cultural de Irak Foreword by Noam Chomsky. First-hand account after the 2003 invasion.
- 2008 The Cultural Plundering of Latin AmericaEl saqueo cultural de América Latina Debate. From the Conquest to globalisation.
- 2003 History of the Ancient Library of AlexandriaHistoria de la antigua biblioteca de Alejandría Vintila Horia International Essay Prize.
- 2005 The Cambridge TranslatorEl traductor de Cambridge Novel. Lengua de Trapo.
- 2006 The Bonfire of the IntellectualsLa hoguera de los intelectuales
- 2012 The Lost Memory of the WorldLas maravillas perdidas del mundo
- 2013 A New Universal History of the Destruction of BooksNueva historia universal de la destrucción de libros Océano. Revised and expanded edition, up to the digital age.
- 2015 The First Books of HumanityLos primeros libros de la humanidad
- 2002
2003 Aristotle: Fragments & PoeticsLos fragmentos de Aristóteles · Poética de Aristóteles Translations from ancient Greek. The Poetics in a trilingual edition: Greek, Latin and Spanish.
What has been said
“Impressive… The best book written on this subject.”
Noam ChomskyJacket, Atlas & Co. edition“A terrifying, masterly book from the erudite pen of Fernando Báez.”
Alberto Manguel“A sobering reminder of just how deep-seated is the instinct to destroy…”
Kirkus ReviewsHis work has been reviewed and discussed in Harper’s Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Le Monde diplomatique, the French magazine Books and Tehran Times, among others.
Speaking
Lectures in Spanish and English. Usual length: 45 to 60 minutes, plus discussion.
- MemoricideWhy erasing memory precedes erasing a people, and how to recognise it early.
- The fragility of knowledgeFrom the tablets of Sumer to the server farm: what every age got wrong about permanence.
- Identity under attackCultural destruction is never complete without an assault on the symbols that sustain dissent.
- Cultural plunderingWho owns the heritage of the global South, and what its removal actually costs.
Photographs
Click any image to open it at full size and download. All of them are also at fernandobaez.org/press-kit.html. Required credit: courtesy of Fernando Báez.
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Main portrait. Horizontal.
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Vertical portrait, among the stacks.
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Speaking on a panel.
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In front of a wall of inscriptions.
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Cover, English edition.
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Japanese edition.
Contact
- Press, speaking and advisorycontact@fernandobaez.org
- Literary agencySchavelzon Graham
- Official sitefernandobaez.org
The texts in this kit may be reproduced freely in the press without prior permission. The photographs may be used in editorial contexts with the credit “courtesy of Fernando Báez”. For any other use, please write to the address above.