Waldemar Espinoza Soriano

Waldemar del Socorro Espinoza Soriano (6 July 1936 – 31 August 2025) was a Peruvian historian, ethnologist, and professor. A specialist in Andean ethnohistory, he taught for more than four decades at the National University of San Marcos, where he was later named professor emeritus. Espinoza authored over thirty books and more than 200 scholarly articles; his most influential works include Los incas: economía, sociedad y Estado en la era del Tawantinsuyo, La destrucción del imperio de los incas (1973), and Virreinato peruano: vida cotidiana, instituciones y cultura (1997). In 2024, ten of his works were declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Early life and education Espinoza was born in Cajamarca on 6 June 1936. He completed his secondary studies at the Colegio Nacional San Ramón in his hometown (1948–1952), where he began writing about local myths and legends.

In 1953, Espinoza entered the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), studying alongside Mario Vargas Llosa, José María Arguedas, Pablo Macera, and Luis Guillermo Lumbreras. He was a student of Raúl Porras Barrenechea and Luis E. Valcárcel, and obtained his bachelor’s degree with a thesis titled Rebeliones indígenas y mestizos en la sierra septentrional del Perú (1756-1821) ("Indigenous and Mestizo Rebellions in the Northern Highlands of Peru (1756–1821)"). He later earned a doctorate in Humanities with a specialization in history.

Espinoza donated between 80,000 and 90,000 volumes from his personal collection to the Pedro Zulen Central Library of UNMSM. The donation included Peruvian and European works, with some editions dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, collected over the course of five decades.

Selected works The following works by Waldemar Espinoza Soriano were declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation:

Rebeliones y alborotos indígenas y mestizos en la sierra septentrional del Perú Virreynal (1756-1821) (1957) El alcalde mayor indígena en el Virreinato del Perú (1960) Los Incas: economía, sociedad y estado en la era del Tahuantinsuyo (1987) Los Huancas, aliados de la conquista: tres informaciones inéditas sobre la participación indígena en la conquista del Perú, 1558, 1560, 1561 (1971) La destrucción del imperio de los Incas: la rivalidad política y señorial de los curacazgos andinos (1973) Los Incas (1987) Artesanos, transacciones, monedas y formas de pago en el mundo andino. Siglos XV y XVI (1987) – Tomos I y II Visita hecha a la provincia de Chucuito por Garci Diez de San Miguel en el año 1567 (1964) Virreinato peruano: vida cotidiana, instituciones y cultura (1997)