Agustín Pío Barrios (also known as Agustín Barrios Mangoré) was born in San Juan Bautista de las Misiones, southern Paraguay, on May 5, 1885, and died on August 7, 1944, in San Salvador, El Salvador. He was a member of a large family, the fifth of seven children, all of whom played at least one instrument each. His parents highly valued the cultural arts, particularly literature, theater, and music.

Agustín’s father, Don Doroteo Barrios, was born in Corrientes, Argentina and played the guitar himself. It is known that Doroteo, playing along with his brothers, entertained the locals of San Juan Bautista. Naturally inspired by his father’s guitar playing, Barrios began playing the instrument at a very young age learning what he could of his father’s “folkloric” skills.

His mother, Mrs. Martina Ferreira, was a native of Humaitá, Paraguay. She was a teacher who was very fond of literature and theater. Agustín’s affinity for other fields such as poetry and languages ​​must have been inherited in part by his mother (although the social environment to which the young guitarist has been exposed throughout his life is more decisive).

Barrios’s birthplace was and still is a small, sleepy town. A visitor can today walk through his unpaved streets and admire the two monuments dedicated to him in the same park that is located in the main square of San Juan Bautista. It can easily be assumed that a talented young guitarist, as Barrios was about to be, would not settle for the simplicity and few cultural opportunities that this small and humble town could offer him.

Barrios would prove to be a multifaceted man passionate about culture, once saying: “One cannot be a guitarist without having bathed in the source of culture.” In addition to Spanish, he spoke Guaraní, the native language of Paraguay. He understood French, English and German. His other interests were philosophy, poetry and theology. Barrios also became a good calligrapher and a talented cartoonist.

As a young man, Barrios never studied at a formal music conservatory. In 1898, Gustavo Sosa Escalada, perhaps the most influential person in Barrios’ life, formally introduced him to the classical guitar repertoire. At that time, the young Barrios had already composed works for guitar, and also performed pieces written by his former teacher, Alias, such as: La Chinita and La Perezosa.

Under the influence of his new teacher, Barrios began to interpret and study the works of Tárrega, Vinas, Sor and Aguado. Sosa Escalada was so impressed with his new student that he convinced Barrios’s parents to let him move to Asunción to continue his guitar education.

Now, in the capital of Paraguay, Barrios lived with his two older brothers Héctor and Virgilio. At the age of 15 (in March 1901) he enrolled in the Colegio Nacional (“National Secondary School”). Although he did quite well, especially in languages ​​and arithmetic, there is no record that he studied at the College for more than two years. Obviously his interest was strongly directed towards music and by the time he left school he had become much more serious and involved with the guitar.