Adios, Mario Vargas Llosa; pivotal figure of Latin American literature and Nobel laureate passes at 89

LIMA: Mario Vargas Llosa (89), a pivotal figure of Latin American literature and Nobel laureate, has passed away. He passed away on Sunday in Lima, the capital of Peru. Llosa's death is being seen as the end of a golden age in Latin American literature.

He created fans all over the world through his novels over five decades. He won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature for his works such as 'Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter', 'Death in the Andes' and 'The War of the End of the World'. He once came close to becoming president of Peru. Llosa distanced himself from the socialist ideas adopted by the prominent figures of his time. His interventions in politics and conservative views disturbed left-wing intellectuals in Latin America. He ran for the Peruvian presidential election in 1990 with a call to save the country from economic chaos and a Marxist armed rebellion but lost to Alberto Fujimori.

Life experiences as writings

He was born on March 28, 1936, in Arequipa, Peru, to a middle-class family. He reflected on his own life experiences as well as the government and conflicts through his writings. Examples include 'The Time of the Hero' (1963), which describes his experiences as a cadet at the Military Academy in Lima, 'A Fish in the Water' (1993), which is a memoir of the presidential race, 'The Feast of the Goat' (2000), which depicts the brutality of the Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo's regime, and 'The Storyteller' (1987), which describes the conflict between indigenous and European cultures in Peru. He was married twice but divorced. He is the former partner of singer Enrique Iglesias' mother, Isabel Preysler. The children are Álvaro Llosa, a writer and political observer, Gonzalo, and Morgana.