Tomás Eloy Martínez (July 16, 1934January 31, 2010) 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, ...
journalist and writer.
Life and work
He was born on July 16, 1934 in
San Miguel de Tucumán
San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentina, ...
and is generally considered an influential and innovative figure in Latin America both as journalist and a novelist. Eloy Martínez obtained a degree in
Spanish and
Latin American literature from the
University of Tucumán, and an Masters of Art at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
From 1957 to 1961 he was a film critic in
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 ...
for the ''
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 ...
'' newspaper, and he then was editor in chief of the magazine ''
Primera Plana
''Primera Plana'' was a weekly glossy political, cultural and current affairs magazine published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 1962 and 1973. The magazine was very influential in shaping the journalism tradition in the country.
History and ...
'' between 1962 and 1969.
From 1969 to 1970 he worked as a reporter in
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. Si ...
. In 1969 Eloy Martínez interviewed former Argentine President
Juan Domingo Perón
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...
, who was exiled in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. These interviews were the basis for two of his more celebrated novels: ''La Novela de Perón'' (1985) and ''Santa Evita'' (1995). In these as in many of his books he combined historical true facts with fictional content in a way unparalleled by any other Latin American writer.
In 1970 he and many former writers of ''Primera Plana'' worked at the magazine ''Panorama'', where Eloy Martínez was the director. He also collaborated in the newspaper ''La Opinion'', founded by
Jacobo Timmerman. He is credited as helping Latin American writings be know around the world, including the
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
staple novel ''
One Hundred Years of Solitude''.
On August 15, 1972 he learned of the uprising of political prisoners in the jail at
Rawson,
Chubut Province
Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (bordering Santa Cruz Province), the Ande ...
. ''Panorama'' was the only publication in Buenos Aires that reported the correct story of the affair in Rawson, which differed significantly from the official version of the ''de facto'' Argentine government. On 22 August he was fired at the behest of the government, whereupon he went to Rawson and the neighboring city of
Trelew and from there he reported the
Massacre of Trelew in his book ''The Passion According to Trelew''. The book was banned by the Argentine dictatorship.
For three years (1972–1975) Eloy Martínez was in charge of the cultural supplement of ''
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 ...
''. ''La Opinión'' was shut down by the military authorities who seized power in 1976. After this, he was forced to live in exile (1975–1983) and moved to
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, where he remained active as a journalist, co-founding the newspaper ''
El Diario de Caracas
''El Diario de Caracas'', was one of the best known newspapers of Venezuela. The paper was founded in 1979 by a group of investors who had the concern to launch a tabloid newspaper with a critical orientation both socio-culturally and politicall ...
''. In his book ''The Memoirs of the General'' he recounts that he was threatened by the "Triple A", the
Alianza Anticomunista Argentina
The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ( es, Alianza Anticomunista Argentina, links=no, usually known as Triple A or AAA) was an Argentine Peronist political action group operated by a sector of the Federal Police and the Argentine Armed Forces, ...
, and on one occasion, gunmen held a pistol to the head of his three-year-old son because they were witnesses to a crime Eloy Martínez believed to be an operation led by the far-right paramilitary group. Around 1979, he met the intellectual
Susana Rotker, with whom he had a daughter Sol Ana in 1986.
During the year 1984 he moved to the United States to the
Washington, D.C., area and was a professor at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...
.
In 1991, he participated in the creation and launch of the daily newspaper ''Siglo 21'' (November 8, 1991), owned by businessman Alfonso Dau and published by Jorge Zepeda Patterson in
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
, which ran for seven years, until December 1998. Also, he created the literary supplement ''Primer Plano'' for the newspaper ''
Página/12'' in Buenos Aires.
The end of the 1990s saw him back in the United States, being entrusted as professor and director of the Latin American studies program at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
in New Jersey, although he maintained his collaboration with Latin American newspapers throughout this period, which was the inspiration as well for his last book ''Purgatory'' where he dealt with the sadness and melancholy of exile and the dire impact on the lives of the families of the "desaparecidos" (people that were kidnapped and presumed dead by the dictatorship known as "El Proceso").
Eloy Martínez was also a teacher and lecturer. He wrote columns for ''La Nación'' and the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' syndicate, and his articles have appeared in many newspapers and journals in Latin America. He was awarded the
Guggenheim and
Woodrow Wilson fellowships, and won the 2002
Premio Alfaguara de Novela for the novel ''Flight of the Queen''. His works deal primarily (but not exclusively) with Argentina during and after the rule of Juan Domingo Perón and his wife,
Eva Duarte de Perón
Eva or EVA may refer to:
* Eva (name), a feminine given name
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment
* Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...
(Evita).
Tomás Eloy Martínez died in Buenos Aires on January 31, 2010, from cancer.
An exhaustive list of his works may be found in ''The Other Reality—Anthology'' with a prologue by Cristine Mattos, Buenos Aires, Fondo de Cultura Económica de Argentina, S.A., 2006.
Main publications
*''
Sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
'' (1969)
*''
The Passion According to Trelew'' (1973, reissued in 1997)
*''
The Perón Novel'' (1985)
*''
La Mano del Amo'' (1991)
*''
Santa Evita'' (1995)
*''
The Memoirs of the General'' (1996)
*''
Common Place - Death'' (1998)
*''
The Argentine Dream'' (1999)
*''
True Fictions'' (2000)
*''
The Flight of the Queen'' (2002)
*''
Requiem for a Lost Country'' (2003)
*''
The Lives of the General'' (2004)
*''
The Tango Singer'' translated by
Anne McLean
Anne McLean (1962, Toronto) is a Canadian translator of Spanish literature. She began to learn Spanish in her late twenties and developed her language skills while living in Central America. Some years later in England, she took a master's degree i ...
(2004)
"The Tango Singer, by Tomas Eloy Martinez, trans Anne McLean (review)"
''The Independent'', February 10, 2006
*''Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
'' translated by Frank Wynne (2008)
References
External links
Official website of the Tomas Eloy Martinez Foundation, in Spanish
special edition literary supplement ''La Nacion'', in Spanish
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Tomas Eloy
1934 births
2010 deaths
People from Highland Park, New Jersey
People from Tucumán Province
Argentine people of Spanish descent
National University of Tucumán alumni
University of Paris alumni
Argentine journalists
Male journalists
Argentine male writers
Rutgers University faculty
Latin Americanists
Illustrious Citizens of Buenos Aires
Deaths from cancer in Argentina
Argentine expatriates in France
Argentine expatriates in the United States