Carlos Samayoa Chinchilla

Carlos Samayoa Chinchilla (December 10, 1898–1973) was a Guatemalan writer. For decades he worked in various roles in the government of Guatemala, but is best remembered for his writing, both fiction and non fiction.[1]

He worked as personal secretary for President Jorge Ubico; after Ubico's death he published the memoir El Dictador y Yo ("The Dictator and I"). He afterwards served as director of the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDAEH), Guatemala's national institution of anthropology, archaeology, and history, and wrote a number of works on those subjects. In 1957, Falcon's Wing Press in Colorado published a collection of his short stories, "The Emerald Lizard: Tales and Legends of Guatemala."

Samayoa Chinchilla wrote "El arco de Balam-Acab" (The Bow of Balam-Acab), included in a book of stories and legends, Madre Milpa in 1934.

He was married to well-known poet Claudia Lars.