Sergio Pitol Deméneghi (18 March 1933 – 12 April 2018) was a Mexican writer, translator and diplomat. In 2005, he received the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world.

Early life

Born in

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, Mexico, Pitol spent his childhood in Ingenio de Potrero, a provincial town in the state of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. His mother died when he was four years old and soon after Pitol contracted

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

, which left him bedridden until about the age of 12. He was raised by his grandmother. As a teenager, Pitol moved to

Córdoba, Veracruz Córdoba, known officially as Heroica Córdoba, is a city and the seat of the municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It was founded in 1618. The city is composed of 15 barrios (neighborhoods) bounded to the north by Ixhuat ...

Education and diplomatic work

In 1950, Pitol moved to Mexico City to study law and literature at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM). In 1960, he became a member of the

Mexican Foreign Service Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

and served over a number of years as

cultural attaché A cultural attaché is a diplomat with varying responsibilities, depending on the sending state of the attaché. Historically, such posts were filled by writers and artists, giving them a steady income, and allowing them to develop their own creat ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Belgrade,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

. In the 1980s, he served as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Later years

Since 1993, he lived in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and t ...

, capital of the state of Veracruz, where he taught at the

Universidad Veracruzana Universidad Veracruzana ( Spanish for ''University of Veracruz'') is a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the southeast region of México. ...

. His final years were spent in poor health and he had struggled in particular with progressive aphasia, which prevented him from writing or talking. He died in Xalapa on 12 April 2018, aged 85.

Writing career

Pitol's publications as translator include literary works by such authors as

Jerzy Andrzejewski Jerzy Andrzejewski (; 19 August 1909 – 19 April 1983) was a prolific Polish writer. His works confront controversial moral issues such as betrayal, the Jews and Auschwitz in the wartime. His novels, '' Ashes and Diamonds'' (about the immediat ...

, Jane Austen, Giorgio Bassani,

Kazimierz Brandys Kazimierz Brandys (27 October 1916 – 11 March 2000) was a Polish essayist and writer of film scripts. Biography Brandys was born in Łódź. He was the brother of the writer Marian Brandys and husband of the translator . He graduated in law f ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career a ...

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not sp ...

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his fi ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was th ...

, and

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

. He also served as a professor at the UNAM, at the

in Xalapa, and at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

in England.

Awards

In 2005, Pitol received the Cervantes Prize. Other major awards include the

Premio Juan Rulfo The FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages (previously Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature), is awarded to writers of any genre of literature (poetry, novels, plays, short stories and literary essays), having as a means o ...

(1999),

Premio Herralde de Novela The Premio Herralde is a Spanish literary prize. It is awarded annually by the publishing house Anagrama to an original novel in the Spanish language. Established in 1983, the prize takes its name from Jorge Herralde, founder of Anagrama. Accompanie ...

(1984) for ''El desfile del amor'', and the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia (1981) for his short story, ''Nocturno de bujara'' from the collection of the same title.

Selected works

Novels

* ''El tañido de una flauta'' (Era, Mexico City, 1972) * ''Juegos florales'' (Siglo XXI, 1982) * ''El desfile del amor'' (

Anagrama Anagrama is a Spanish publisher founded in 1969 by Jorge Herralde. In 2010 it was sold to the Italian publisher Feltrinelli. Since 1969, Anagrama has published over 3,500 titles. currently, Anagrama publishes around 100 books annually, between t ...

, Barcelona 1984; ''The Love Parade'', trans. George Henson; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2021) * ''Domar a la divina garza'' (

, Barcelona, 1988) * ''La vida conjugal'' (Era, Mexico City;

, Barcelona, 1991)

Essay-memoirs

* ''El arte de la fuga'' (Era, Mexico City, 1996 (''The Art of Flight'', trans. George Henson; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2015) * ''El viaje'' (Era, Mexico City, 2000 (''The Journey'', trans. George Henson; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2015) * ''El mago de Viena'' (Pre-Textos, Valencia, 2005 (''The Magician of Vienna'', trans. George Henson; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2017)''

Short-story collections

* ''Tiempo cercado'' (Editorial Estaciones, Mexico City, 1959) * ''Infierno de todos'' (Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, 1964) * ''Los climas'' (Joaquín Mortiz, Mexico City, 1966) * ''No hay tal lugar'' (Era, Mexico City, 1967) * ''Del encuentro nupcial'' (Tusquets, Barcelona, 1970) * ''Nocturno de Bujara'' (Siglo XXI, Mexico City, 1981) * ''Vals de Mefisto'' (

, Barcelona, 1984; ''Mephisto's Waltz'', Trans. George Henson; Deep Vellum Publishing, 2019) * ''El relato veneciano de Billie Upward'' (Monte Ávila Editores, Caracas, 1992)'' * ''Todos los cuentos'' (Alfaguara, Mexico City, 1998) * ''El oscuro hermano gemelo y otros relatos'' (Norma, Bogotá, 2004) * ''Los mejores cuentos, presentación de Enrique Vila-Matas'' (

, Barcelona, 2005)

References

External links

CBC: Mexico's Sergio Pitol wins Cervantes lit prize

BBC Mundo: Cervantes para Sergio Pitol

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitol, Sergio 1933 births 2018 deaths Mexican diplomats Mexican novelists Mexican male writers Male novelists Premio Cervantes winners Prix Roger Caillois recipients Mexican people of Italian descent Mexican translators People from Puebla