Library Research Guide for Latin American Studies

World Biographical Information System includes full text of thousands of biographical dictionaries accessible by name of biographee. Largely online full text, partly microfiche or print. Includes many Latin Americans. More information.

Index to Spanish American collective biography.
LOCATION: Widener: RR 1731.5
--Contents: v. 1, The Andean countries; v. 2, Mexico; v. 3, The Central American and Caribbean countries; v. 4, The River Plate countries.
--Essentially a bibliography of works of collective biography (including encyclopedias, anthologies, general and specialized histories, as well as biographical dictionaries and "who's who" type publications), with annotations and detailed contents notes, followed by an index of persons mentioned in the notes. In general, works containing information on fewer than 300 people are fully analyzed.

A bibliography of the collective biography of Spanish America, by Josefina del Toro. University of Puerto Rico Bulletin. series ix-no. 1, 1938.
LOCATION: Widener: SA 998.2
LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC: Z1609.B6T6 
--A very useful annotated list of 488 works of collective biography, arranged by country with author index.

Latin America and the Caribbean : a critical guide to research sources, ed. by Paula H. Covington. New York : Greenwood Press, 1992. 924 p.
Widener | RR 3653.8
--There is a list of biographical dictionaries on pp. 28-38.

Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography. NY : Oxford University Press,  2016, 6 v.
Online Version

Search HOLLIS for "Latin America" biography or [Country name] biography as a subject to find relevant biographies.

Biographical dictionary of Latin American historians and historiography, by Jack Ray Thomas. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984, 420 p.
Widener | WID-LC | F1409.8.A2 T48 1984

Who’s who in Latin America : government, politics, banking & industry. [title varies]. NY: Norman Ross Pub., 1984-
Widener RR 1531.10 (4th ed., 1997; v.1: South America; v.2: Central America and the Caribbean)
Widener Harvard Depository JL957 .W47 (3rd ed.)
Widener WID-LC F 1407 .W47 1984x (1st ed. 1984)
--Entries are grouped by country with general index.

Biographical dictionary of Latin American and Caribbean political leaders, by edited by Robert J. Alexander. New York : Greenwood Press, 1988, 509 p.
Widener | RR1531.5

Dictionary of Latin American and Caribbean biography. London : Melrose Press, 1971/72.
Widener | SA 998.11

Who's who in Latin America : a biographical dictionary of notable men and women of Latin America. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1945-1951 [v. 1, 1946] 7 v.
Widener | SA 998.35.3
Widener WID-LC CT506 .W48 1971 (Reprint of 3rd ed. in 2 v.)
--(1st ed., 1935; 2nd ed., 1940; 3rd. ed., 1945-51. 3rd ed. in seven volumes by country; earlier eds. (1935, 1940) in one vol. with geographical index). Full text of 3rd ed. in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American biographical archive, and in Internet Archive. 3rd ed.: v. 1. Mexico, v. 2. Central America, and Panama

Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) indexes thousands of English-language biographical dictionaries and other compendia. Not full text; one must do HOLLIS searches for retrieved sources.

Additional sources available in: Finding Biographical Information.