Ernesto de la Peña (; 21 November 1927 – 10 September 2012) was a Mexican writer, translator and cultural advocate. Peña was also a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and polyglot who studied thirty-three languages, as varied as

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

. He joined the Mexican Academy of the Language in 1993 and was a member of the Royal Spanish Language Academy. He studied classical literature at

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

. His most famous books included ''The Stratagems of God'', published in 1988; ''The Indelible Borrelli Case'' in 1992; ''Mineralogy For Intruders'' in 1999; and ''The Transfigured Rose'', also released in 1999. De la Peña was the recipient of the National Jose Pages Llergo Prize for Cultural Journalism, the

National Prize for Arts and Sciences The National Prize for Arts and Sciences ( es, Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes) is awarded annually by the Government of Mexico in six categories. It is part of the Mexican Honours System and was established in 1945. The prize is a gold medal a ...

for linguistics in 2003, and the Fine Arts Gold Medal in 2007. In August 2012, Mexican Ambassador to Spain

Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña ( Jamay, Jalisco, April 22, 1952) is a Mexican politician who belongs to the National Action Party. He has been Municipal President of Guadalajara, Governor of Jalisco from 2001 to 2006 and from December 1, 2006, ...

accepted the

Menéndez Pelayo International Prize The Menéndez Pelayo International Prize has been awarded since 1987 by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) with the objective of honoring those persons whose literary or scientific work has a humanistic orientation and application, ...

on Ernesto de la Peña's behalf, as the writer was too ill to travel to

Menéndez Pelayo International University Menéndez Pelayo International University ("UIMP" in Spanish) is a public university with administrative headquarters in Madrid and campuses in Santander, Valencia, Barcelona, Cartagena, Cuenca, Granada, La Línea de la Concepción, Seville and ...

Santander, Spain Santander () is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. It is a port city located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao with a population of 172,000 (2017). It is believed to ...

, to accept it in person. He received the

Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor The Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (Spanish: ''Medalla de Honor "Belisario Domínguez" del Senado de la República'') is the highest award bestowed by the Mexican Senate. It forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is currently Mexico's ...

, Mexico's highest honor, in a ''post mortem'' ceremony in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Ernesto de la Peña died of an illness on 10 September 2012, at the age of 84.

References

1927 births 2012 deaths Writers from Mexico City Linguists from Mexico {{Mexico-writer-stub