The Peruvian essayist and poet Manuel González Prada (1848-1918) was one of the most dynamic and aggressive polemicists of the late 19th century in Spanish America. He fought for change and progress and denounced the vestiges of Spanish colonialism.

Manuel González Prada was born on Jan. 6, 1848, in Lima, the son of a wealthy and conservative family. A rebellious child from his early years, he ran away from the seminary where he had been placed by his devout mother and began his university career studying German poets. Later he switched to law, the field in which his family wanted him to take a degree, but then made up his mind to become a farmer.

González Prada began writing poetry during this period, and in 1871 his verses were included in José Domingo Cortés's anthology, América poetica. González...