Manuel Mujica LainezIn fact, the writer himself spelled his surnames without accents, as all his books published during his lifetime show. (11 September 1910 – 21 April 1984) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

novelist, essayist and art critic. He is mainly known for his cycle of

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

s called "La saga porteña" (The Buenos Aires Saga), consisting of ''Los ídolos'' (1953), ''La casa'' (1954), ''Los viajeros'' (1955) and ''Invitados en El Paraíso'' (1957); as well as his cycle of

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Art ...

novels consisting of ''

Bomarzo Bomarzo is a town and '' comune'' of the province of Viterbo ( Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located east-northeast of Viterbo and north-northwest of Rome. History The city's current name is a derivation o ...

'' (1962), '' El unicornio'' (1965) and '' El laberinto'' (1974). He is also known for his first two short story collections ''Aquí vivieron'' (1949) and ''

Misteriosa Buenos Aires ''Misteriosa Buenos Aires'' (Spanish for ''Mysterious Buenos Aires'') is a 1950 book of literary fiction by Manuel Mujica Lainez, containing no fewer that 42 short stories (average length: 6.4 pages) illustrating life in Buenos Aires from the time ...

'' (1950).

Life

His parents belonged to old and aristocratic families, being descended from the founder of the city,

Juan de Garay Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador. Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's n ...

, as well as from notable men of letters of 19th century Argentina, such as Florencio Varela and Miguel Cané. As was traditional at the time, the family spent protracted periods in Paris and London so that Manuel, known proverbially and famously as "Manucho", could become proficient in French and English. He completed his formal education at the ''Colegio Nacional de San Isidro'', later dropping out of law school. In spite of their proud ancestry, the Mujica Lainez family was not notably well-off by this time, and he went to work at Buenos Aires' newspaper

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La N ...

as literary and art critic. This permitted him to marry in 1936, his bride being a beautiful patrician girl, Ana de Alvear, descended from

Carlos María de Alvear Carlos María de Alvear (October 25, 1789 in Santo Ángel, Rio Grande do Sul – November 3, 1852 in New York), was an Argentine soldier and statesman, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1815. Early life H ...

. They had two sons (Diego and Manuel) and a daughter (Ana). 1936 was also the year of the 25-year-old's first publication, ''Glosas castellanas''. Mujica Lainez was a member of the

Argentine Academy of Letters The ''Academia Argentina de Letras'' is the academy in charge of studying and prescribing the use of the Spanish language in Argentina. Since its establishment, on August 13, 1931, it has maintained ties with the Royal Spanish Academy and the other ...

and the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1982 he received the French's

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. He died at his Villa "El Paraíso" (The Paradise) in Cruz Chica, Córdoba Province, in 1984.

Career

Mujica Lainez was preeminently a narrator and enumerator of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, from its earliest colonial times to the present. The society of Buenos Aires, especially high society, its past triumphs and present decadence, its quirks and geographies, its language and lies, its sexual vanities and dreams of love: he relished bringing all this to his elegantly written, quietly ironic, subtly subversive page. He was also a great translator. He translated

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Sonnets A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

and works by

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. He is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, writing nume ...

, and others. Throughout his career he received certain honors and awards, including

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

(1964), the distinction of Commander of

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

(1967) given by the Italian government and the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

by the French government (1982). In 1964 he received the John F. Kennedy Prize for his novel ''Bomarzo'', shared with fellow Argentine writer

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ...

for his novel ''

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

'' (1963).

Works

Novels

*''Don Galaz de Buenos Aires'' (1938) *The

porteño In Spanish, the term (feminine: ''Porteña'') means "port city person". It is used to refer to residents of port cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and Tam ...

saga: **''Los ídolos'' (1952) **'' La casa'' (1954) **''Los viajeros'' (1955) **''Invitados en "El Paraíso"'' (1957) *''

'' (1962) * ''El unicornio'' (1965) translated as '' The Wandering Unicorn'' *''De milagros y de melancolías'' (1969) *''Cecil'' (1972) *'' El laberinto'' (1974) *''El viaje de los siete demonios'' (1974) *''Sergio'' (1976) *''Los cisnes'' (1977) *'' El gran teatro'' (1979) *''El brazalete'' (1981) *''El escarabajo'' (1982)

Short story collections

*''Aquí vivieron'' (1949) *''

'' (1950) *''Crónicas reales'' (1967) *''Cuentos inéditos'' (posthumous, 1993)

Essays

*''Glosas Castellanas'' (1936)

Biographies

*''Miguel Cané (padre)'' (1942) *''Vida de Aniceto el gallo'' (1943) *''Vida de Anastasio el pollo'' (1947)

Translations

*''Cuarenta y nueve sonetos de Shakespeare'' (1962)

Collaborations

*''Canto a Buenos Aires'' (1943) *''Estampas de Buenos Aires'' (1946)

Opera

* Mujica Lainez adapted his novel ''

'' for the operatic stage, writing the libretto

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

to music by

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buenos ...

and premièred in 1967. This opera was banned by the Argentine military dictatorship in those days.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Carsuzán, María Emma. ''Manuel Mujica Lainez''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, Biblioteca del Sesquicentenario, Serie "Argentinos en las Letras", Ministerio de Cultura y Educación, 1962. * Cruz, Jorge. ''Genio y figura de Manuel Mujica Lainez''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Eudeba, 1978. * Font, Eduardo. ''Realidad y fantasía en la narrativa de Manuel Mujica Laínez (1949–1962)''. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones José Porrúa Turanzas, 1976. ** I: "Mujica Lainez y su obra literaria" ** II: "''Aquí vivieron'' y ''Misteriosa Buenos Aires'': Estructura y género" ** III: "Estructura, tiempo e imaginación en ''Los ídolos''" ** IV: "La estructura de ''La Casa''" ** V: ''Bomarzo'': El género literario y el narrador" ** VI: "''Bomarzo'': La narrativa y la temática") * Yahni, Roberto and Pedro Orgambide (eds.) ''Enciclopedia de la literatura argentina''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudamericana, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mujica Lainez, Manuel 1910 births 1984 deaths Writers from Buenos Aires Journalists from Buenos Aires Argentine art critics Argentine essayists Argentine translators Argentine male novelists Argentine male short story writers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Male essayists LGBT writers from Argentina Argentine writers in French English–Spanish translators French–Spanish translators 20th-century translators 20th-century Argentine novelists 20th-century short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Argentine male writers 20th-century LGBT people