Doña Bárbara is a novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, first published in 1929. It was described in 1974 as "possibly the most widely known Latin American novel".
Cover of the first edition of Doña Bárbara
Gallegos based the character of Maria Nieves on a real man of the same name he knew during his travels in the plains. Maria Nieves photographed here in 1920 ready to direct the cattle across a river.
Rómulo Ángel del Monte Carmelo Gallegos Freire was a Venezuelan novelist and politician. For a period of nine months during 1948, he governed as the first freely elected president in Venezuela's history. He was removed from power by military officers in the 1948 Venezuelan coup.
Gallegos c. 1947-48
Gallegos and Teotiste