Carlos Rojas Vila (12 August 1928 – 9 February 2020) was a Spanish author, academic, and artist born in Barcelona in 1928. His father was Carlos Rojas Pinilla, a Colombian doctor, who was in turn the younger brother of

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian National Army of Colombia, army general, civil engineer and politician who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia in a military dictatorship f ...

, the 19th president of Colombia. He attended the University of Barcelona, obtaining his undergraduate degree in 1951. He earned his doctorate in 1955 from the University of Madrid with a study on

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

. In 1960 he began teaching at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where he led a distinguished career until his retirement in 1996. He wrote both non-fiction and fiction, winning awards in both categories. His first novel ''De barro y esperanza'' appeared in 1957. In 1959, he was awarded the Ciudad de Barcelona prize for his work, ''El asesino de César.''. He received the Premio Selecciones de Lengua Española for his 1963 work ''La ternura del hombre invisible'', this was followed in 1968 by the

Premio Nacional de Literatura A National Prize for Literature () is a kind of award offered by various countries. Examples include: * National Prize for Literature (Argentina) * National Literary Awards, Burma * National Prize for Literature (Chile) * Premio Nacional de Lit ...

"Miguel Cervantes" for the novel ''Auto de Fe''. The

Premio Planeta de Novela The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original unpublished novel written in Spanish. It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta. Financially, it is t ...

was awarded to him in 1973 for his biographical novel ''Azaña'', four years later, in 1977, he won the

Premio Ateneo de Sevilla The and its twin the are sedans sold in Japan from 2001 to 2021 by Toyota. The sedans are designated as a compact car by Japanese dimension regulations and the exterior dimensions do not change with periodic updates. Unlike Toyota's other ve ...

for ''Memorias inéditas de José Antonio Primo de Ribera''. His 1979 work ''El Ingenioso hidalgo y poeta Federico García Lorca asciende a los infiernos'' won the

Premio Nadal Premio Nadal is a Spanish literary prize awarded annually by the publishing house Ediciones Destino, part of Planeta. It has been awarded every year on 6 January since 1944. The Josep Pla Award for Catalan literature is given at the same ceremon ...

, and in 1984 he was awarded the

Premio Espejo de España The and its twin the are sedans sold in Japan from 2001 to 2021 by Toyota. The sedans are designated as a compact car by Japanese dimension regulations and the exterior dimensions do not change with periodic updates. Unlike Toyota's other ve ...

for ''El mundo mítico y mágico de Pablo Picasso''. These last works are all fictionalized biographies, a genre of which he was particularly fond. His writing has been translated into English, French, German, Hungarian, and several Slavic languages

Works

* 1957 ''De barro y esperanza'' (novela) * 1958 ''El futuro ha comenzado'' (novela) * 1959 ''El asesino de César'' (novela) * 1963 ''La ternura del hombre invisible'' * 1965 '' Adolfo Hitler está en mi casa'' (novela) * 1965 ''De

Cela Cela may refer to: People * Cela (surname), a Spanish-Galician surname * Çela, an Albanian surname * Camilo José Cela, Spanish writer, winner of 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature * Ćela, nickname of Stevan Nedić (1875–1923), Serbian Chetni ...

a Castillo-Navarro: veinte an̈os de prosa española contemporánea'' (antología) * 1966 ''Diálogos para otra España'' (ensayo) * 1966 ''Rei de Roma'' (en catalán) * (1967-1969) ''Maestros Norteamericanos'' (ensayo) * 1968 ''Auto de Fe'' (novela) * 1969 ''El aprendizaje de los sueños en la pintura de

Pepi Sánchez Pepi Sánchez was a Sevillian painter. Born in 1929, she moved to Madrid in 1958 and lived there until she died in 2012. She had a unique and imaginative style, with Oneirology, oneiric elements and a clear Baroque influence. Her work was always ...

'' (ensayo) * 1970 ''Aquelarre'' (ensayo) * 1970 ''¿Por qué perdimos la guerra?'' (ensayo) * 1970 ''Luis III, el Minotauro'' * 1970 ''

Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (; ; 29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical e ...

y Ortega: Intelectuales frente al drama'' (ensayo) * 1972 ''Las llaves del infierno'' * 1973 ''Diez figuras ante la guerra civil'' (ensayo) * 1973 '' Azaña'' (novela biográfica)

Premio Planeta The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original unpublished novel written in Spanish. It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta. Financially, it is the ...

* 1975 ''La guerra civil vista por los exiliados'' (ensayo) * 1975 ''Mein Fuehrer, mein Fuehrer! (el libro prohibido)'' (novela) * 1977 ''Memorias inéditas de

José Antonio Primo de Rivera José Antonio Primo de Rivera y Sáenz de Heredia, 1st Duke of Primo de Rivera, 3rd Marquess of Estella GE (24 April 1903 – 20 November 1936), often referred to simply as José Antonio, was a Spanish fascist politician who founded the Falan ...

'' (novela biográfica) * 1977 '' Azaña / Companys: los dos presidentes'' (biografía) * 1977 ''

Machado Machado is a surname of Portuguese origin meaning "axe" or "hatchet", with the surname attested as far back as the 12th century. It is commonly found in Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Hispanic America, the Philippines, India (former Portuguese colony of ...

y Picasso: arte y muerte en el exilio'' (ensayo) * 1977 ''Retratos antifranquistas'' (biografías) * 1977 '' Prieto y José Antonio:

socialismo Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and social ...

Falange Falange () is the name of a political party whose ideology is Falangism. Falange primarily refers to: * Falange Española, a Spanish political party active 1933–1934, it merged with the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS) * Falange ...

ante la tragedia civil'' (ensayo) * 1978 ''El

valle de los caídos The Valley of Cuelgamuros (Spanish: ''Valle de Cuelgamuros''), until 2022 Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: ''Valle de los Caídos''), is a monument in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. The valley contains a Catholic basilica and a monumen ...

'' (novela) * 1979 ''El Ingenioso hidalgo y poeta Federico García Lorca asciende a los infiernos'' (novela biográfica)

* 1979 ''Guerra de Cataluña'' * 1981 ''La Barcelona de

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

'' (ensayo) * 1984 ''El mundo mítico y mágico de Picasso'' (ensayo) * 1985 '' El mundo mágico y mítico de

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

'' (ensayo) * 1988 ''El jardín de las Hespérides'' (novela) * 1990 ''El jardín de Atocha'' (novela) * 1990 ''Yo

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

'' (ensayo) * 1992 ''Proceso a

Godoy Godoy is a French surname coming from the Normandy region in France. It is derived from the Norman-French first name ''Gaudi'' meaning ruler. It is also a Spanish surname. It may refer to: People *Adán Godoy (born 1936), Chilean football player ...

'' (novela histórica) * 1995 ''¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte! Salamanca, 1936.'' (ensayo) * 1995 ''Alfonso XII de España habla con el demonio'' (novela) * 1997 ''Los Borbones destronados: la biografía humana y política de Carlos IV de España,

Fernando VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

, Isabel II de España y

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

, cuatro monarcas destronados en menos de siglo y medio, pero cuya dinastía recupera siempre la Corona'' (ensayo) * 1999 ''La vida y la época de Carlos IV de España'' (novela histórica) * 2000 ''Puñeta, la Españeta'' (ensayo) * 2000 ''Momentos estelares de la guerra de España'' (ensayo) * 2003 ''Diez crisis del franquismo'' (ensayo)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas Vila, Carlos 20th-century Spanish male writers 21st-century Spanish writers 1928 births 2020 deaths Emory University faculty Spanish people of Colombian descent University of Barcelona alumni Writers from Barcelona Spanish expatriates in the United States