The United States & Peru – Fun Facts

Geography

Did you know… Peru -a country in South America- is about the size of California (158,869 sq mi), Texas (267,277 sq mi), New York (53,989 sq mi), Maryland (12,297 sq mi) and Delaware (2,396 sq mi) combined…

Noted Personalities

Did you know… In the 20th century, Alberto Vargas, whose full name was Alberto Joaquin Vargas y Chavez, became one of America’s best-known pin-up artists. He was born on February 9, 1896, in Arequipa- Peru’s second largest city. Alberto was the oldest of six children born to Max Vargas and Margarita de Vargas. In the 1910s, Alberto moved to Europe to study painting. Soon, however, he left Europe for New York, where he completed his studies. As many young people, Alberto was almost forced to end his studies during World War I. In America, Alberto was a celebrated artist known for his creation of the “Vargas Girl”, an American icon. Subsequently, he married Anne Marie Clift.

In 1939, he became an American citizen. The US government decorated him for his efforts to sustain the morale of the American soldiers during World War Second. From 1940 to 1976, he worked for Ezequire magazine and Playboy. Alberto also worked for several film companies (Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros). In 1958, the Peruvian government bestowed upon him the Order of the Sun.

Singer and actress Yma Sumac was a celebrity in the mid-1940s and 1950s. Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo, best known as Yma Sumac, was the last of six children in the family of Sixto Chavarri and Summack Emilia Atahualpa Chavarri. Ymac was born on September 10, 1922, in Callao, Peru -no in Ichocan, Cajamarca (Peru). In 1954, she was cheered by a huge audience at the Carnegie Hall in New York. Her performance was amazing! Certainly, Yma, an American-Peruvian citizen since 1955, was popular for her singing style and nearly five octave vocal range.

On February 18, 1954, Virgil Thompson wrote in the New York Herald Tribune: “The Peruvian vocalist has a voice of great beauty, and her vocal technique is impeccable. She sings very low and warm, very high and bird-like; and her middle range is no less lovely than the extremes of her scale. That scale is very close to four octaves, but it is in no way inhuman or outlandish in sound”. Her music is inspired from Peruvian folk songs. Among the songs which Sumac recorded are Tump