José María Sánchez Borbón

José María Sánchez Borbón (Solarte Island, 25 July 1918 – Panama City, 8 November 1973), was a Panamanian writer and politician.

Early life He was born on Solarte Island, in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, on July 25, 1918. Sánchez Borbón attended primary school in San Jose, Costa Rica. In 1938 he graduated from the Instituto Nacional de Panama as Bachelor in Literature and then as lawyer at the University of Panama.

Career He worked in his father's business in Bocas del Toro during the 1940s and 1950s. He joined the Panamanian government from 1956 to 1968. During the 1960s, Sánchez was Panamanian ambassador to Colombia and Argentina.

His short stories, some of them translated to German, French, English and Russian, are of importance to Panamanian literature. He began publishing in 1937. He "showed the validity of the social" – To celebrate life and literary work of José María Sánchez and Guillermo Sánchez Borbón Premio Nacional de Cuento "José María Sánchez" (Short-Stories National Prize "José María Sánchez) – Organized annually by the Universdad Tecnológica de Panamá since 1996 to award the best Short Story book of each year.