Luis Alberto Costales Cazar (Riobamba, December 24, 1926 – Riobamba, February 1, 2006) was an Ecuadorian poet, philosopher, teacher, speaker, historian, farmer and politician. He was a poet and writer who also extensively studied the history of his native city. His poetry, lyric and epic, often adhered to classical rhythm, metre and rhyme. He was an idealist philosopher, whose philosophy was based on firm moral principles projected beyond time and space. Among his works are: Bucólicas y Una Vida Simple; Sobre el Pomo de la Tierra, Exiliado en el verso and Rutas de Sombra y de Sol]</ref> He is considered one of the figures never to have been awarded the Eugenio Espejo Prize. He was co-founder of the Democratic Left Party, being a member of the First National Executive Council, which also comprised Alfredo Buendía, Rodrigo Borja, Fidel Jaramillo Terán, Efrén Cocíos and others. Luis Alberto Costales was viewed as especially important in respect of his vocation for bringing up youth with high human and civic values. Biography Early life Luis was the son of Luis Arsecio Costales Cevallos and Esther Lucía Cazar Chávez. His childhood and youth were spent on farms owned by his parents: Maguazo, Lanlán, Ocpote and San Pablo. Here he came to know the indigenous people, spending much time with them doing farm work. He joined in with intimate family gatherings by candlelight, presided over by his father telling tales of the past as well as reading out classic novels and short stories. His childhood was marked by hard events such as the death of loved ones, beatings at school, and the forceful character of his father, who constantly told the boy how he had to make himself a "man", and left him alone on long horserides by night. These experiences helped to form his personality. Once, passing a nearby church on horseback, he first heard the tolling of a bell, and at his tender age he thought it was a divine manifestation, so he decided to write his first poem. In 1932 he began study at the Simon Bolivar School of Riobamba. The following year he entered the St Thomas the Apostle School (STAR) in Riobamba. His secondary education took place in the San Felipe Neri School of the same city, run by the Jesuits. In 1945 he entered the Central University of Ecuador, in the city of Quito, joining the faculty of International Studies