Jorge Aguilar Mora (9 January 1946 – 5 January 2024) was a Mexican essayist, novelist, poet, professor and literary critic.

Biography

Aguilar Mora studied Hispanic language and literature at the

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 ...

(UNAM) and received his doctorate from

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Mex ...

. He was a professor at both institutions. During the 1968 Movement, he was a representative of El Colegio de México assembly and was arrested. He had to leave the country and settled in Paris with a scholarship, where he established a relationship with Roland Barthes, who became his teacher. Aguilar Mora spread Barthes' ideas and put him in contact with other Mexican intellectuals, whom he influenced. Among Aguilar Mora's essays, the one he dedicated to Octavio Paz in 1978, titled ''La divina pareja: Historia y mito en Octavio Paz'', was especially important. Its critical nature gave a twist to the academic literature that had been written until then about Paz. He collaborated in the ''Cancionero folklorico de México'', a compilation of popular Mexican lyrics of the 20th century, directed by philologist Margit Frenk and published between 1975 and 1985 by El Colegio de México. Aguilar Mora won the

Xavier Villaurrutia Award The Xavier Villaurrutia Award (Premio Xavier Villaurrutia) is a prestigious literary prize given in Mexico, to a Latin American writer published in Mexico. Founded in 1955, it was named in memory of Xavier Villaurrutia. Multiple awards have been gi ...

in 2015. Among his students was

Gabriela Brimmer Gabriela "Gaby" Raquel Brimmer (September 12, 1947 – January 2, 2000), was a Mexican writer and activist for people with disabilities. She was born in Mexico City, the daughter of Sari and Michel Brimmer, Austrian Jewish immigrants. She had a b ...

, whom Aguilar Mora encouraged to write poetry.

Death

Aguilar Mora died in Bethesda, Maryland, on 5 January 2024, at the age of 77.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Cadáver lleno de mundo'' *''Si muero lejos de ti'' *''Los secretos de la aurora''

Poems

*''US Mail Special Delivery'' *''No hay otro cuerpo'' *''Esta tierra sin razón y poderosa'' *''Stabat Mater''

Essays

*''La divina pareja: Historia y mito en Octavio Paz'' *''Una muerte sencilla, justa, eterna: Cultura y guerra durante la Revolución Mexicana'' *''Un día en la vida del general Obregón'' *''Sueños de la razón, 1799 y 1800. Umbrales del siglo XIX''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar Mora, Jorge 1946 births 2024 deaths People from Chihuahua City Mexican essayists Mexican literary critics 20th-century Mexican poets 21st-century Mexican poets 20th-century Mexican male writers 21st-century Mexican male writers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni