Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa died on Sunday at the age of 89, his family announced, ending the era of Latin America’s literary golden generation.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family,” his eldest son, Alvaro, wrote in a message on social media also signed by his siblings Gonzalo and Morgana.
Born into a middle-class Peruvian family, Mario Vargas Llosa was one of the greats of the Latin American literary “boom” of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Colombia’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Argentina’s Julio Cortazar.
Photo: Reuters
Rumors of the writer’s deteriorating health had spread in recent months, during which he had been living out of the public eye.
In October last year, Alvaro Vargas Llosa said he was “on the verge of turning 90, an age when you have to reduce the intensity of your activities a little.”
The writer’s “passing 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 family statement said.
Peru yesterday declared a day of mourning for the author, with flags flying at half-mast on government premises.
The family said that “no public ceremony will take place,” in accordance with instructions left by Mario Vargas Llosa himself.
“Our mother, our children and ourselves trust that we will have the space and privacy to bid him farewell in the company of family members and close friends,” the siblings added.
Mario Vargas Llosa’s body is to be cremated, in accordance with his wishes, they said.
Gustavo Ruiz, a reader of Mario Vargas Llosa’s works, was among a small group of young people gathered around the writer’s home to pay tribute.
“I didn’t believe it and I wanted to come close to his house since they are not going to give him a wake,” Ruiz told national radio station RPP.
David Marreros, a 30-year-old visual artist, said that Mario Vargas Llosa proved “one can live doing what one is most passionate about.”
The writer’s “intellectual genius and enormous body of work will remain an enduring legacy for future generations,” Peruvian President Dina Boluarte said on social media.
“We express our sincerest condolences to the family, to his friends and to the whole world. Rest in peace, illustrious Peruvian for the ages,” she said.
Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe called Mario Vargas Llosa a “Master of Masters.”
“He leaves us a path for the future,” Uribe said on social media.
Fellow Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique hailed Mario Vargas Llosa’s “enormity,” telling RPP his friend’s death was “a sorrow for Peru.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said that “to label him as just Peruvian would be a disservice because his themes and interests were timeless and universal.”
“He will live on in my bookshelves and many others in Latin America and around the world,” Landau wrote on social media.
Mario Vargas Llosa moved to Lima last year and celebrated his 89th birthday on March 28.
Mario Vargas Llosa was hailed for his close description of social reality in works such as La ciudad y los perros (“The City and the Dogs,” 1963) and Conversacion en la catedral (“Conversation in the Cathedral,” 1969).
Mario Vargas Llosa’s works were translated into about 30 languages.
A Francophile, he lived in Paris for several years, becoming in 2016 the first foreign author added to the prestigious Pleiade literary collection during his lifetime.
He was named to France’s Academy of Prominent Intellectuals in 2021.
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