Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel prize-winning novelist, dies at 89

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 14, 2025 5:46 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who enchanted readers with his intelligence rigour and lyrical prose for 5 decades and astir became president of his country, died connected Sunday. He was 89. 

He died successful the country's superior Lima surrounded by his household and "at peace," his lad Alvaro Vargas Llosa, a well-known governmental commentator, said connected X.

A starring airy successful the 20th period Latin American lit boom, Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize for lit successful 2010 for works similar Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Death successful the Andes, and The War of the End of the World.

But aboriginal connected helium abandoned the socialist ideas that were embraced by galore of his peers, and his dabbling successful authorities and blimpish views annoyed overmuch of Latin America's leftist intelligence class.

In 1990, helium ran for president of Peru, saying helium wanted to prevention his state from economical chaos and a Marxist insurgency.

He mislaid successful the run-off to Alberto Fujimori, a then-unknown agronomist and assemblage prof who defeated the insurgents but was aboriginal jailed for quality rights crimes and corruption.

Frustrated by his loss, the writer moved to Spain but remained influential successful Latin America, harshly criticizing a caller question of strident leftist leaders led by then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In his dozens of novels, plays and essays, Vargas Llosa told stories from assorted viewpoints and experimented with form, moving backmost and distant successful clip and switching narrators.

His enactment crossed genres and established him arsenic a foundational fig successful a procreation of writers that led a resurgence successful Latin American lit successful the 1960s.

His books often examined the unnerving relationships betwixt leaders and their subjects. The Feast of the Goat (2000) details the brutal authorities of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo, portion The War of the End of the World (1981) tells the existent communicative of a fanatical preacher whose flock dies successful a deadly warfare with Brazil's service successful the 1890s.

"His intelligence genius and immense assemblage of enactment volition stay an everlasting bequest for aboriginal generations," Peru's President Dina Boluarte said successful a station successful X, calling him the "most illustrious Peruvian of each time."

Novels fed by experience

Born to middle-class parents successful Arequipa, Peru, connected March 28, 1936, Vargas Llosa often drew from idiosyncratic acquisition and his family, astatine times inserting characters based connected his ain beingness into his tales.

His acclaimed debut novel, The Time of the Hero (1963), was loosely based connected his teenage beingness arsenic a cadet astatine a subject academy successful Lima, portion his 1993 memoir, A Fish successful the Water, focused connected his 1990 statesmanlike run.

Other works expressed heavy interest for his country.

The Storyteller (1987) deals with the clash of Indigenous and European cultures successful Peru, portion Death successful the Andes (1993) recounts the haunting years of the Shining Path guerrilla movement.

"An author's enactment is fed by his ain acquisition and, implicit the years, becomes richer," Vargas Llosa told Reuters successful an interrogation successful Madrid successful 2001.

As his scope of experiences grew, Vargas Llosa continuously experimented. The Bad Girl (2006) was his archetypal effort astatine a emotion communicative and was wide praised arsenic 1 of his best.

Denounced Castro, Chavez

In the 1970s, Vargas Llosa, a one-time protagonist of the Cuban revolution, denounced Fidel Castro, maddening galore of his leftist literate colleagues similar Colombian writer and chap Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

In 1976, the 2 had a celebrated argument, throwing punches extracurricular a theatre successful Mexico City. A person of Garcia Marquez said Vargas Llosa was upset that the Colombian had consoled his woman during an estrangement but Vargas Llosa refused to sermon it.

Vargas Llosa became a staunch protagonist of escaped markets mixed with libertarian ideals. Despite being outspoken connected governmental issues, Vargas Llosa said helium was a reluctant person erstwhile helium ran for president of Peru.

"In reality, I ne'er had a governmental career," Vargas Llosa erstwhile said. "I took portion successful authorities nether precise peculiar circumstances ... and I ever said that whether I won oregon mislaid the elections, I was going backmost to my literary, intelligence job, not politics."

His idiosyncratic beingness was worthy of a caller itself, and indeed, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977) was loosely based connected the communicative of his archetypal matrimony astatine the property of 19 to Julia Urquidi, 10 years his elder and the erstwhile woman of his mother's brother.

His 2nd woman was his archetypal relative Patricia, but helium near her successful 2015 aft 50 years for the charms of Isabel Preysler, the parent of vocalist Enrique Iglesias. That narration ended successful 2022. He had 3 children, including Alvaro, with Patricia.