Mario Vargas Llosa

Writing

Born: 1936-03-28
Died: 2025-04-13
From: Arequipa, Peru
Gender: Male
Popularity: 0.1

Biography

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa, is a Peruvian writer, journalist, essayist, college professor, and a former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. In 2010 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat." He also won the 1967 Rómulo Gallegos Prize, the 1986 Prince of Asturias Award, the 1994 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1995 Jerusalem Prize, the 2012 Carlos Fuentes International Prize, and the 2018 Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit. Vargas Llosa rose to international fame in the 1960s with novels such as The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y los perros, literally The City and the Dogs, 1963/1966), The Green House (La casa verde, 1965/1968), and the monumental Conversation in the Cathedral (Conversación en la catedral, 1969/1975). He writes prolifically across an array of literary genres, including literary criticism and journalism. His novels include comedies, murder mysteries, historical novels, and political thrillers. Several, such as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (1973/1978) and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977/1982), have been adapted as feature films. Many of Vargas Llosa's works are influenced by the writer's perception of Peruvian society and his own experiences as a native Peruvian. Increasingly, he has expanded his range, and tackled themes that arise from other parts of the world. In his essays, Vargas Llosa has made many criticisms of nationalism in different parts of the world. Another change over the course of his career has been a shift from a style and approach associated with literary modernism, to a sometimes playful postmodernism. Like many Latin American writers, Vargas Llosa has been politically active throughout his career. While he initially supported the Cuban revolutionary government of Fidel Castro, Vargas Llosa later became disenchanted with its policies, particularly after the imprisonment of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla in 1971, and now identifies as a liberal. He ran for the Peruvian presidency in 1990 with the center-right Frente Democrático coalition, advocating classical liberal reforms, but lost the election to Alberto Fujimori. He is the person who, in 1990, "coined the phrase that circled the globe," declaring on Mexican television, "Mexico is the perfect dictatorship", a statement which became an adage during the following decade. Vargas Llosa is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.

Awards & Nominations54 won · 0 nominated

🏆 Won

Grand Cross of the Order of Boyacá

2019
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honorary doctor of the University of Miami

2018
🏆 Won

Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit

2018
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Library of Congress Living Legend

2016
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Hayek Medal

2016
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honorary doctorate of the University of Burgos

2016
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gold Medal of the Community of Madrid

2015
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Don Quijote Journalism Prize

2015
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Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish Language

2012
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honorary doctorate of the University of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

2012
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St. Louis Literary Award

2011
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Commander of the Order of the Aztec Eagle

2011
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Alfonso Reyes International Prize

2010
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Viareggio-Versilia International Prize

2010
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Nobel Prize in Literature

2010
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Premio Ceppo Pistoia

2009
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honorary doctorate of the Bordeaux Montaigne University

2009
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honorary doctorate of the University of Granada

2009
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Prix mondial Cino Del Duca

2008
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Freedom Prize

2008
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honorary doctor of the University of Alicante

2008
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honorary doctorate of the University of Reims

2007
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Maria Moors Cabot Prizes

2006
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Orden de la Independencia Cultural Rubén Darío

2006
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Irving Kristol Award

2005
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honorary doctor of the Sorbonne Nouvelle University

2005
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Honorary doctor of the Humboldt University of Berlin

2005
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Caonabo de Oro Award

2002
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Grand Cross, Special Class of the Order of the Sun of Peru

2001
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honorary doctorate from University of French Polynesia

2001
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honorary doctorate of the National University of San Marcos

2001
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honorary doctor of the University of Pau

2001
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Menéndez Pelayo International Prize

1999
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Ortega y Gasset Awards

1999
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Mariano de Cavia' Price

1997
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National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism

1997
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Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association

1996
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Jerusalem Prize

1995
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honorary doctorate of the University of Murcia

1995
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honorary doctorate of the University of Valladolid

1995
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honorary doctor of the University of Rennes 2

1994
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Miguel de Cervantes Prize

1994
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Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres

1993
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Premio Planeta de Novela

Death in the Andes

1993
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Scanno Prize

The Storyteller

1989
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Officer of Arts and Letters

1987
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Grinzane Cavour Prize

The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta

1986
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Princess of Asturias Literary Prize

1986
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Knight of the Legion of Honour

1985
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Prix Formentor

1967
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National Culture Award

The Green House

1967
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Castilian Narrative Critic Award

The Green House

1967
🏆 Won

Rómulo Gallegos Prize

The Green House

1967
🏆 Won

Castilian Narrative Critic Award

The Time of the Hero

1964