Sergio Pitol

Sergio Pitol was a Mexican writer, translator and diplomat who received the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world, in 2005. He spent his childhood in Ingenio de Potrero, a provincial town in the state of Veracruz, where he contracted malaria and lost his mother at a young age. He studied law and literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and became a member of the Mexican Foreign Service in 1960. He served as a cultural attaché and ambassador in various countries, such as Poland, Hungary, France, Italy, China, Czechoslovakia, and Spain. He also taught at the University of Veracruz and the University of Bristol. He translated literary works from English and Polish, including authors such as Jane Austen, Joseph Conrad, Anton Chekhov, and Witold Gombrowicz. He wrote novels, short stories, and memoirs that explored the themes of identity, memory, and travel. His novels include El tañido de una flauta (1972), El desfile del amor (1984), Domar a la divina garza (1988), and La vida conjugal (1991). His memoirs include El arte de la fuga (1996), El viaje (2000), and El mago de Viena (2005). His short story collections include Tiempo cercado (1959), Infierno de todos (1964), Los climas (1966), and No hay tal lugar (1967). He was known for his formal experimentation and his intertextual references to other writers and artists. His final years were marked by poor health and progressive aphasia, which prevented him from writing or speaking. He died in Xalapa, Veracruz, on April 12, 2018, at the age of 85.