Elías Lozada Benavente

Elías Lozada Benavente, (Arequipa, 18 July 1897- Lima, 30 August 1987) was a , Peruvian lawyer, politican, writer, and the founder of the Social Nationalist Party (Partido Social Nacionalista). He served as the Minister of Justice (1931), the Constituent Deputy for Arequipa (1931-1936), the Minister of Development and Public Works (1932), and as Senator for Arequipa (1939-1945).
==Life==
The son of Hermógenes Lozada, from the Cayman Islands, and Aurora Benavente, Benavente was born in the Arequipa District of Peru. He started his studies in his city of birth and ended them in Lima, where he graduated with a Bachelors and Doctorate in Law at the National University of San Marcos (1920).Tauro, 2001, tomo 10, p.1523.
==Political career==
On the first of September 1930, he founded the moderate Social Nationalist Party (Partido Social Nacionalista).
He was asked to join the Governing Board headed by Luis M. Sánchez Cerro, as the Minister of Justice and Instruction,Basadre, 2005, tomo 15, p.52. a position he held from February to March of 1931, until the board was dissolved.
He was elected Deputy of Arequipa in the Constituent Congress (1931-1936).Tauro, 2001, tomo 10, p.1524. As the leader of a minority party, the Social Nationalist Party, he supported the Congress under the constitutional government of Sánchez Cerro.Basadre, 2005, tomo 15, p.144.
In a 1931-1932 Constituent's Congress debate on women's suffrage, Lozada Benavente expressed support for granting women the right to vote, regardless of religion and religiosity. He instead argued that the reasoning should be that women are to be treated as partners, equals in governance 
On January 29th 1932, he became a member of the second ministerial cabinet of the Sánchez Cerro government as the Minister of Development and Public Works. Along with his colleagues Carlos Sayán Álvarez (Minister of Justice and Instruction) and Luis A. Flores (Minister of Government), he was among the youngest ministers within Peruvian government to that date .Basadre, 2005, tomo 15, p.174. He remained in this role until the 19th of May that year.Basadre, 2005, tomo 15, p.202.
In 1939 he was elected senator of Arequipa (1939-1945). He presented the bill which established national awards for the promotion of culture (Law 9614).He also authored the original 1920 Code of Minors (Código de Menores), the law that governed juvenile criminal law in Peru until its re-writing in 1962, and the 1932 Law 7505, pertaining to workers rights and protections.
==Interest in the Amazon==
Lozada Benavente had a personal interest in the cultures and legends of the peoples native to the Amazon. He explored these topics in some of his works, the most well known being Leyendas amazónicas, where he detailed information he collected both directly from indigenous people and historical record.
==Published Works==
* Simón Rodríguez, (1919), a historical essay.
* Criminología, (1920).
* Policía judicial científica, (1921).
* Dos dictaduras, (1933).
* Partido Social Nacionalista (1935).
* Vaivenes de la política, (1938), which contains descriptions of Luis Sánchez Cerro.
* Mi homenaje a Arequipa, (1940), a historical essay.
* Leyendas amazónicas, (1942).
* Nuestro Partido, (1944).
* Discursos, (1945).
* Código de menores, (1945).
* Tramontando. Ideario íntimo, (1965).
===2018 exhibit===
In 2018, one of Lozada Benavente's works, Leyendas amazónicas, was featured in a temporary exhibition at the House of Peruvian Literature in Lima, Peru. The exhibition, titled The House Without a Door: Amazonian Literature (1940-1980) (La casa sin puerta. Literatura amazónica (1940-1980)), featured works of imense literary value and was open to the public without charge from July to December of 2018.
===Biographies===
* Basadre Grohmann, Jorge: Historia de la República del Perú (1822 - 1933), Tomo 15. Editada por la Empresa Editora El Comercio S. A. Lima, 2005. ISBN 9972-205-77-0 (V.15)
* Tauro del Pino, Alberto: Enciclopedia Ilustrada del Perú. Tercera Edición. Tomo 10. Lima, PEISA, 2001. ISBN 9972-40-159-6
Category:Writers
Category:Politicians
Category:Peruvian lawyers
Category:1897 births
Category:1987 deaths