José Asunción Flores

José Asunción Flores ( * August 27, 1904, † May 16, 1972 ) was a Paraguayan composer and the founder of the musical style Guarania.

After humble beginnings in Villarrica, he was a member of the Police Orchestra of Asuncion. In the 1920s, he created the Guarania melodies. His friend, the poet Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, worked closely with him and wrote the lyrics to many famous Guaranias, for example, to India and Panambí Vera.

Since Flores had contacts with the Partido Comunista Paraguayo, he lived many years in exile in Argentina and the Soviet Union. During the Stroessner regime, his works were banned in Paraguay. His symphonic work María de la Paz with text by Elvio Romero, was premiered by the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra. Only in May 1990, after the fall of Alfredo Stroessner it was first performed by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Asunción in the presence of President Andrés Rodríguez in Paraguay.