Editing Alejo Carpentier (section)

===Early life and education===
Carpentier was born on December 26, 1904, in [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, to Jorge Julián Carpentier, a French architect, and Lina Valmont, a Russian language teacher.<ref name="Belnap 1993 263-264">{{Harvnb|Belnap|1993|pp=263–264}} cited in {{harvnb|Wakefield|2004|p=5}}</ref> For a long time it was believed that he was born in [[Havana]], where his family moved immediately after his birth; however, following Carpentier's death, his birth certificate was found in Switzerland.<ref>{{Harvnb|Belnap|1993|pp= 263–264}} cited in {{harvnb|Wakefield|2004|p=6}}</ref>

In 1912, Alejo and his family moved from [[Cuba]] to Paris. As an adolescent, he read Balzac, Flaubert, and Zola.<ref name="Belnap 1993 263-264"/> In 1921, Carpentier attended the School of Architecture of the University of Havana. When he was 18, his parents' marriage broke up and his father left. The following year, Carpentier left his studies and tried to find work to support his mother.<ref name="Belnap 1993 263-264"/> He turned to journalism, working for the Cuban newspapers ''Carteles'' and ''Social''. He also studied music.<ref name="Colchie">Colchie, Thomas (editor), ''A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes: stories from Latin America''; Penguin Group, 416–417 (1991).</ref>

Though bilingual from an early age, Carpentier always spoke Spanish with a marked French accent.