Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa, and also spent parts of his youth in Cochabamba (Bolivia), Piura in northern Peru and Lima.
He made his debut as a novelist with ‘The Time of the Hero’ (1962), set in Leoncio Prado military Academy, where he had been a student. The book received an immediate international recognition. His many other works include the novels ‘Conversation in The Cathedral’, ‘The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta’, ‘Who Killed Palomino Molero?’, ‘The Storyteller’, ‘The Feast of the Goat’, ‘The Bad Girl’, ‘The Dream of the Celt’ and the theatre plays: ‘La Chunga’, ‘Kathie and the Hippopotamus’, The Young Lady from Tacna’, among others.
In 1977 he published La tía Julia y el escribidor (‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’) a semi-autobiographical novel. At this time he was an Overseas Fellow at Churchill College (1977-1978), and Simón Bolívar Professor at the Centre of Latin American Studies.
He also published several books of essays. He wrote for El País (Piedra de Toque), and the cultural magazine Letras Libres (Extemporáneos) published in Mexico and in Spain. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Mario Vargas Llosa was also an outspoken participant in the world of politics, as a prolific essayist and candidate for elected office.
He received a long list of prestigious literary awards, including the Leopoldo Alas Prize (1959), the Rómulo Gallegos Prize (1967), the National Critics’ Prize (1967), the Critics’ Annual Prize for Theatre (1981), the Prince of Asturias Prize (1986), the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (1994)—the Spanish-speaking world’s most distinguished literary honor, the Jerusalem Prize (1995), the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1996), the PEN/Nabokov Award (2002), the Nobel Prize for Literature (2010) and many Doctor Honoris Causa degrees from the most prestigious universities.
In 2013, when he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge.
He lived with his wife Patricia and spent his time between Madrid, Paris and Lima. Our thoughts are with his family.