Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the Latin America's literary heavyweights, dies at 89

Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa died Sunday at the age of 89 in the Peruvian capital, his family announced on social media.

Vargas Llosa's passing marks the close of the era of Latin America's literary golden generation, of which he was the last living member.

"It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family," wrote his eldest son Álvaro in a message also signed by his siblings Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa. 

Rumoirs of the writer's deteriorating health had spread in recent months, during which he had been living out of the public eye.

In October, his son Álvaro said he was "on the verge of turning 90, an age when you have to reduce the intensity of your activities a little."  

Born into a middle-class Peruvian family, Vargas Llosa was one of the greats of the Latin American literary "boom" of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Colombia's Gabriel García Márquez and Argentina's Julio Cortazar.

The writer's "passing will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world," the family statement read.

"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 said that "no public ceremony will take place," in accordance with instructions left by 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.

Vargas Llosa's body will be cremated, in accordance with his wishes, they said.

'Enduring legacy'

The writer's "intellectual genius and enormous body of work will remain an enduring legacy for future generations," Peru's President Dina Boluarte posted on X. "We express our sincerest condolences to the family, to his friends and to the whole world. Rest in peace, illustrious Peruvian for the ages."

Mario Vargas Llosa moved to Lima last year and celebrated his 89th birthday on March 28.

A few days before, his son Alvaro posted on X three photos of him showing the writer in spots around Lima where he wrote his last two novels, Cinco Esquinas ("Five Corners," 2016) and Le Dedico Mi Silencio ("I Dedicate My Silence To You," 2023).

Vargas Llosa was hailed for his close description of social reality in works like La ciudad y los perros ("The City and the Dogs," 1963) and Conversacion en la catedral ("Conversation in the Cathedral," 1969).

But he was criticised by some South American intellectuals for his conservative stances.

Vargas Llosa's works were translated into around 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.

– TIMES/AFP