Luis Enrique Sam Colop or Sam-Colop (born in Cantel, 1955, died July 15, 2011) was a Guatemalan/Native American linguist, lawyer, poet, writer, newspaper columnist, promoter of the K'iche' language, and social activist.

Early life

He was born in Cantel, Guatemala in 1955.

Education

Sam Colop graduated in Law at the Rafael Landivar University and obtained his Ph.D. at SUNY, Buffalo in 1994 with a dissertation on Maya poetry.

Teaching career

He taught K'iche' Language at the Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala. Starting in 1999 he was a Fulbright-sponsored visiting scholar at St. Mary's College of Maryland

Books and articles

Published works by Luis Sam-Colop include two poem collections, Versos sin refugio and La copa y la raíz as well as various essays and articles. He is best known outside Guatemala for a new edition of the Popol Vuh in the native language. He recently received a Guggenheim fellowship in connection with this work.