Julia Urquidi Illanes (30 May 1926 – 10 March 2010) was a

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n writer and the basis for Aunt Julia in the novel '' Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter'' written by her ex-husband

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (28 March 1936 – 13 April 2025) was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists a ...

Life

Urquidi was born in

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

. She was famous as the first wife of Peruvian writer

(1955-1964) and as the basis for the Aunt Julia character in one of his most famous novels, '' Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter''. Her career included work as the Chief of Protocol in the office of the mayor of

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

and as a personal secretary for first ladies of Bolivia. In 1983, she published her memoir titled ''Lo que Varguitas no dijo'' (),''La Tía Julia sin el Escribidor''
''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'', 03.06.1990 in response to the production of a soap opera based on ''Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter''. She died in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

, aged 84.

References

1926 births 2010 deaths People from Cochabamba Bolivian women writers Vargas Llosa family {{Bolivia-writer-stub