Mariano Lorenzo Melgar Valdivieso was a Peruvian revolutionary, poet, artist, translator and patriot soldier during the Peruvian War of Independence from Spain. As a poet, Melgar became one of the most prominent romantic poets of Peru in the 19th century history, best known for his poetic love songs known as yaravíes. He is often considered to be the equivalent of the Ecuadorian José Joaquín Olmedo and the Cuban José Martí as patriots of their respective countries.