Rafael María Baralt y Pérez (3 July 1810 - 4 January 1860) was a Venezuelan diplomat and one of the country's most famed writers, philologists, and historians. He was the first Latin American to occupy a chair at the Real Academia Española.
Life
Born in Maracaibo on 3 July 1810, he was the son of Miguel Antonio Baralt, who helped build the Baralt Theater in Maracaibo, and Ana Francisca Pérez, who was Dominican.
Baralt was elected to seat R of the Real Academia Española, he took up his seat on 27 November 1853.
He suffered an untimely death in Madrid on 4 January 1860 due to the stresses and aggravations suffered during services rendered to his beloved country of birth. He is buried in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.
Books
Resumen de la Historia de Venezuela (1840) Adiós a la Patria (1842).