Alejandro Aura (

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

; March 2, 1944 –

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

; July 30, 2008) was a Mexican writer, essayist, poet, playwright and actor, as well as a culture promoter and television host.

Biography

Alejandro Aura was born on March 2, 1944, to a family from the San Rafael borough of

. His father Olimpo Aura Pineda was a mathematician, and his mother Ema Palacios Ordorica, whose grandfather Manuel Ordorica worked at the National Palace of Mexico with President Porfirio Díaz, was descendant of an aristocratic family. From a young age, Alejandro developed a passion for literature writing poetry, plays, essays, short fiction and fiction. He was also characterized by his political activism by participating actively in the

student movement Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. Besides his literary activities, he was director of the Theater and Dance department of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

. In March, 1995, Aura created the national reading club "Aureolas" in his cultural bar "El hijo del cuervo'" in

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...

, where he presented several artistic, cultural and social activities between 1984 and 1999. In 1998, he created and directed the Institute of Culture of Mexico City (nowadays, Secretary of Culture) during

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexicans, Mexican politician and civil engineer. A prominent Social democracy, social-democrat and the son of 51st president of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former List of heads of ...

' term as

Head of Government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

, until 2001. During his term, Aura promoted the use of public spaces for cultural activities and created reading clubs. He was director of the Institute of Culture of Mexico in

from July, 2001, to December, 2003. He got first married to

Elsa Cross Elsa Cross (born March 6, 1946, in Mexico City), is a contemporary Spanish-language Mexican writer perhaps best known for her poetry. She has also published translations, philosophical essays and is known as an authority on Indian philosophy. ...

, with whom he had a daughter, Cecilia Aura Cross (1968-2007), then to Emma Ruiz and to actress Verónica Langer, with whom he had a son, Pablo Aura. He later married

Carmen Boullosa Carmen Boullosa (; born September 4, 1954, in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican poet, novelist and playwright. Her work focuses on the issues of feminism and gender roles within a Latin American context. It has been praised by a number of writers ...

, with whom he had two children: María and Juan Aura. In Madrid, he met his last wife, Milagros Revenega, with whom he spent his last days. Alejandro Aura died on July 30, 2008, in Madrid. He was awarded the Latin-American Award for Short Fiction in 1969 for ''Los baños de Celeste'' (''Celeste's Baths''), and the National Award for Poetry Aguascalientes in 1973 for ''Volver a casa'' (''Coming Home'').

Works

Short fiction

*''Los baños de Celeste'' (1969) *''La historia de Nápoles'' (1988) *''La hora íntima de Agustín Lara'' (1993) *''El otro lado'' (1993)

Poetry

*''Cinco veces la flor'', in ''Poesía Joven de México'' (1967) *''Alianza para vivir'' (1969) *''Varios desnudos y dos docenas de naturalezas muertas'' (1971) *''Volver a casa'' (1974) *''Tambor interno'' (1975) *''Hemisferio sur'' (1982) *''La patria vieja'' (1986) *''Cinco veces'' (1989) *''Poeta en la mañana'' (1991)

Drama

*''Los exaltados'' (1974) *''Las visitas'' (1979) *''Salón calavera'' (1982) *''Xe bubulú'' (1984), in collaboration with

. *''Salón calavera'', ''Las visitas'' and ''Bang'' (1987)

References

External links

Official blog of Alejandro Aura
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aura, Alejandro 1944 births 2008 deaths Mexican male poets Mexican dramatists and playwrights Poets from Mexico City 20th-century Mexican poets 20th-century Mexican dramatists and playwrights Mexican male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Mexican male writers