Ludovico Silva

Luis José Silva Michelena, best known as Ludovico Silva (1937–1988) was a Venezuelan poet and philosopher. A Marxist philosopher, he developed an account of ideology as symbolic surplus.

Life
Luis José Silva Michelena was born in Caracas on February 16, 1937, the son of Hector Silva Urbano and Josefina Michelena. He was educated at a private school, the Colegio San Ignacio, Caracas, before travelling to study philosophy, literature and philology in Spain, France and Germany. From 1970 to 1986 he was a professor of philosophy at the Central University of Venezuela. From 1964 to 1968 he was head of the Caracas Athenaeum. With Miguel Otero Silva he founded the literary magazine Lamigal.

Heavy drinking caused his brain to be affected by excess ammonium, and in 1986 he was committed to a mental institution for 33 days. He died in Caracas on December 8, 1988.

Works

 * Tenebra, 1964
 * La Plusvalía Ideológica [Ideological surplus], 1970
 * El estilo literario de Marx [Marx's literary style], 1970
 * Teoría y práctica de la ideología [Theory and practice of ideology], 1971
 * Anti-manual para uso de marxistas, marxólogos y marxianos [Anti-manual for the use of Marxists, Marxologists and Marxians], 1975
 * El estilo literario de Marx [Marx's literary style], 1975
 * Marx’s Literary Style, Verso 2023, ISBN 9781839765537.
 * Ensayos temporales: Poesía y teoría social [Temporary essays: poetry and social theory], 1983
 * La alienación como sistema: la teoría de la alienación en la obra de Marx [Alienation as a system: the theory of alienation in Marx's work], 1983
 * La interpretación femenina de la historia y otros ensayos [The female interpretation of history and other essays], 1987
 * Opera poética, 1958-1982 [Poetical works, 1958-1982], 1988
 * La torre de los ángeles [The tower of the angels], 1991