Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa , a towering figure in Latin American literature and winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, died on Sunday at the age of 89. His death was confirmed in a statement shared on social media by his son Álvaro Vargas Llosa .
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family,” read the statement signed by his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana.
The family said there would be no public ceremony and that his remains would be cremated. “His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” the statement added.
Vargas Llosa was known for novels such as The Time of the Hero, Conversation in the Cathedral, and Feast of the Goat, works that explored power, corruption, and the contradictions of Peruvian society. His debut novel, The Time of the Hero (1963), based on his experience at a military academy, provoked national controversy and was partly burned by military officers who labelled him a communist.
He was a leading voice of the Latin American literary “Boom” alongside Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes, gaining global recognition for his ability to intertwine personal stories with sweeping political commentary.
Who was Nobel literature laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa
Born Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa on March 28, 1936, in Arequipa, Peru, he spent his early childhood in Bolivia with his mother and grandmother. He later discovered that his father—previously believed to be dead—was alive, and the family reunited in Lima when Vargas Llosa was ten.
He was sent to the Leoncio Prado Military Academy, an experience he described as “like discovering hell,” which later served as the basis for his first novel. He studied literature and law at San Marcos University in Lima and later earned a doctorate in Madrid.
His career spanned decades and continents, with residences in Paris, New York, and Madrid. He was also a political commentator and columnist, penning the influential “Piedra de Toque” column, and evolved from youthful communist affiliations to becoming a staunch critic of authoritarianism and leftist regimes in Latin America.
In 1990, Vargas Llosa ran for president of Peru but lost to Alberto Fujimori, a political outsider who later became a controversial authoritarian leader. Though he never held office, his political views influenced much of his later work and public life.
His novels often depicted Peru's complex social fabric, from Amazonian tribes to crumbling aristocracies. Later works, such as The Way to Paradise and The Dream of the Celt, explored historical figures like Paul Gauguin and Roger Casement .
Vargas Llosa was twice married and had three children. His high-profile relationship with Spanish socialite Isabel Preysler, mother of singer Enrique Iglesias, ended in 2022.
His final novel, Harsh Times (2019), tackled US intervention in Guatemala. Despite critics’ disapproval of his political shift, Vargas Llosa remained a literary force into his late 80s, his works continuing to provoke thought and admiration across the world.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family,” read the statement signed by his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana.
The family said there would be no public ceremony and that his remains would be cremated. “His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” the statement added.
Vargas Llosa was known for novels such as The Time of the Hero, Conversation in the Cathedral, and Feast of the Goat, works that explored power, corruption, and the contradictions of Peruvian society. His debut novel, The Time of the Hero (1963), based on his experience at a military academy, provoked national controversy and was partly burned by military officers who labelled him a communist.
He was a leading voice of the Latin American literary “Boom” alongside Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes, gaining global recognition for his ability to intertwine personal stories with sweeping political commentary.
Who was Nobel literature laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa
Born Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa on March 28, 1936, in Arequipa, Peru, he spent his early childhood in Bolivia with his mother and grandmother. He later discovered that his father—previously believed to be dead—was alive, and the family reunited in Lima when Vargas Llosa was ten.
He was sent to the Leoncio Prado Military Academy, an experience he described as “like discovering hell,” which later served as the basis for his first novel. He studied literature and law at San Marcos University in Lima and later earned a doctorate in Madrid.
His career spanned decades and continents, with residences in Paris, New York, and Madrid. He was also a political commentator and columnist, penning the influential “Piedra de Toque” column, and evolved from youthful communist affiliations to becoming a staunch critic of authoritarianism and leftist regimes in Latin America.
In 1990, Vargas Llosa ran for president of Peru but lost to Alberto Fujimori, a political outsider who later became a controversial authoritarian leader. Though he never held office, his political views influenced much of his later work and public life.
His novels often depicted Peru's complex social fabric, from Amazonian tribes to crumbling aristocracies. Later works, such as The Way to Paradise and The Dream of the Celt, explored historical figures like Paul Gauguin and Roger Casement .
Vargas Llosa was twice married and had three children. His high-profile relationship with Spanish socialite Isabel Preysler, mother of singer Enrique Iglesias, ended in 2022.
His final novel, Harsh Times (2019), tackled US intervention in Guatemala. Despite critics’ disapproval of his political shift, Vargas Llosa remained a literary force into his late 80s, his works continuing to provoke thought and admiration across the world.
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