
Manuel Ricardo Palma Soriano (7 February 1833-6 October 1919) was a Peruvian scholar and senator.
Biography[]
Ricardo Palma was born in Lima, Peru in 1833, and he left college to join the Peruvian Navy, in which he served for six years. In 1860, he was exiled to Chile for participating in a liberal plot against Ramon Castilla, and he visited Europe from 1864 to 1865 before returning to Lima and becoming a public servant. He served as consul in Para, Brazil, as a senator, and as a War and Navy Ministry official. His library was destroyed during the War of the Pacific, and, as director of the National Library from 1883 to 1912, he rebuilt the National Library and restored it to its status as one of the top libraries in South America. His friendship with Chilean president Domingo Santa Maria ensured that he could bring back 10,000 books looted by the Chilean Army. He died in 1919.