Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (14 June 1939–18 October 2003) was a prolific Spanish writer from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humorist, critic and political prisoner as well as a gastronome and a

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

supporter.

Biography

Vázquez Montalbán was born in

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 c ...

on 14 June 1939. His parents did not register his birth until 27 July; many sources show 27 July or 14 July as his birth date. He studied Philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and was also a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia. He spent 18 months in prison after attending a 1962 miner's strike. He began writing poetry in 1967. He is one of the '' Novísimos'' from Jose María Castellet. His poetic works until 1986 are collected in ''Memoria y deseo'' ("Memory and desire"). The same characteristic features of his poetry appear in his novels. '' Los mares del Sur'', part of the Pepe Carvalho series, won the Planeta Award in 1979, bringing fame for both the writer and the fictional detective, who would later be portrayed in films, TV series and comic strips. In 1988, he wrote and published a children's book called, ''Escenas de la Literatura Universal y Retratos de Grandes Autores'' (English version as "Scenes from World Literature and Portraits of Greatest Authors"), which is illustrated by Willi Glasauer, and published by Círculo de Lectores. This children's book includes fun facts, trivia, and information accompanied by photos and Willi Glasauer's illustrations of the likes of

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, Gabriel García Márquez,

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, Samuel Beckett,

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, Marguerite Duras, Miguel de Cervantes,

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, Virginia Woolf,

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, Vladimir Nabokov,

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, William Faulkner, and

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. Other narrative works include narrative productions '' Galíndez'' (1991), winner of the National Narrative Award; '' El estrangulador'' (The strangler) (1994) and '' Erec y Enide'' (Erec and Enide) (2002). In 1992 he published '' Autobiografía del general Franco'', which was awarded the 1994 international prize ''Premio Internacional de Literatura Ennio Flaiano''. He also wrote non-literary works in Catalan, notably ''L'art del menjar a Catalunya'' (1977). For many years, he contributed columns and articles to the

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 ...

-based daily newspaper ''

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''. He died in

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, while returning to his home country from a speaking tour of Australia. His last book, ''La aznaridad'', was published posthumously.

Detective Carvalho saga

The first novel featuring the 50-year-old gastronome-detective Pepe Carvalho is ''Yo maté a Kennedy'' (''I killed Kennedy'') in 1972, followed by ''Tatuaje'' (''Tattoo'') in 1975 and ''La soledad del manager'' (''The Angst-Ridden Executive'') in 1977. The rest of the Pepe Carvalho saga is as follows: *'' Los mares del Sur'' 1979 *''Asesinato en el Comité Central'' (Murder in the Central Committee) 1981 *''Los pájaros de Bangkok'' (The Birds of Bangkok) 1983 *''La rosa de Alejandría'' (Alexandria's Rose) 1984 *''El balneario'' (The Spa) 1986 *'' El delantero centro fue asesinado al atardecer'' (Offside) 1989 *''El laberinto griego'' (The Greek Labyrinth) 1991 *''Sabotaje olímpico'' (Olympic Sabotage) 1993 *''El hermano pequeño'' (The Little Brother) 1994 *''El Premio'' (The Prize) 1996 *''Quinteto de Buenos Aires'' (Buenos Aires Quintet) 1997 *''El hombre de mi vida'' (The Man of My Life) 2000 *''Milenio Carvalho'' (Carvalho Millennium) 2004, edited in two parts.

The gastronome

Vázquez Montalbán was also a gastronome. Gastronomical references can be found in all the novels of the Pepe Carvalho series, which include some recipes such as the "rice tagliatelle fideuà" that Carvalho prepares in ''Los pájaros de Bangkok''. He displays all his gastronomic knowledge, with erudition and humility, in ''Contra los Gourmets'' (Against Gourmets), an initiation in the world of gastronomy. ''Contra los Gourmets'' concentrates on Spanish cuisine, but covers international cuisine, traditional cuisine and nouvelle cuisine. He also considers eating fashions such as "healthy food" and "light products". Other gastronomic works by Montalbán are ''L'art del menjar a Catalunya'' (Cocina Catalana), ''Recetas inmorales'' (Immoral recipes) and ''Reflexiones de Robinsón ante un bacalao''.

Essays

He wrote essays about journalism, politics, sociology, sports, history, cuisine, biographies, literature or music. His first essay, ''Informe sobre la Información'' (Report about Information) (1963) is still one of the best studies on journalism ever published in Spain. Some of his other works are: *''Crónica sentimental de España'' (Sentimental Chronicle of Spain), 1971 *'' Joan Manuel Serrat'', 1972 *''El libro gris de Televisión Española'' (The Grey TV Book), 1973 *''Diccionario del Franquismo'', (Dictionary of the Franco times) 1977 *''Panfleto desde el planeta de los simios'' (Pamphlet from the Planet of the Apes), 1995 *''Un polaco en la corte del rey Juan Carlos'' (A Pole - meaning a Catalan, here used ironically - in the Court of King Juan Carlos), 1996, an analysis of the political life in Madrid, in the last years of Felipe González's government. *''Y Dios entró en La Habana'' (And God entered La Habana), 1998, about

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and the visit of the Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. *''Marcos: el señor de los espejos'' (Marcos: the Lord of the Mirrors), 1999.

Awards in his name

To commemorate him, the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Catalan College of Journalists have awarded the Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award since 2004. The award includes two categories: * Sport Journalism. * Cultural and/or Political Journalism. Also, the Italian writer

Andrea Camilleri Andrea Calogero Camilleri (; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian writer. Biography Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, b ...

called his main character Salvo Montalbano in honour of him.

Notes

External links

Website about Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

Some of his poems in Spanish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez Montalban, Manuel 1939 births 2003 deaths Writers from Barcelona Spanish male novelists Journalists from Catalonia Novísimos Spanish mystery writers Food writers from Catalonia Spanish communists Spanish male poets Spanish gastronomes Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish journalists