Manuel Mujica LainezIn fact, the writer himself spelled his surnames without accents, as all his books published during his lifetime show. (11 September 1910 – 21 April 1984) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

novelist, essayist, translator and art critic. He is mainly known for his cycle of

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

s called "La saga porteña" (The Buenos Aires Saga), consisting of ''Los ídolos'' (1953), ''La casa'' (1954), ''Los viajeros'' (1955) and ''Invitados en El Paraíso'' (1957); as well as his cycle of

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those c ...

novels consisting of ''

Bomarzo Bomarzo is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo (Lazio, Central Italy), in the lower valley of the Tiber. It is located east-northeast of Viterbo and north-northwest of Rome. History The city's current name is a derivation of ...

'' (1962), '' El unicornio'' (1965) and '' El laberinto'' (1974). He is also known for his first two short story collections ''Aquí vivieron'' (1949) and '' Misteriosa Buenos Aires'' (1950).

Life

His parents belonged to old and aristocratic families, being descended from the founder of the city,

Juan de Garay Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador. Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's ...

, as well as from notable men of letters of 19th century Argentina, such as Florencio Varela and Miguel Cané. As was traditional at the time, the family spent protracted periods in Paris and London so that Manuel, known proverbially and famously as "Manucho", could become proficient in French and English. He completed his formal education at the ''Colegio Nacional de San Isidro'', later dropping out of law school. In spite of their proud ancestry, the Mujica Lainez family was not notably well-off by this time, and he went to work at Buenos Aires' newspaper

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

as literary and art critic. This permitted him to marry in 1936, his bride being a beautiful patrician girl, Ana de Alvear, descended from Carlos María de Alvear. They had two sons (Diego and Manuel) and a daughter (Ana). 1936 was also the year of the 25-year-old's first publication, ''Glosas castellanas''. Mujica Lainez was a member of the Argentine Academy of Letters and the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1982 he received the French's

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. He died at his Villa "El Paraíso" (The Paradise) in Cruz Chica, Córdoba Province, in 1984.

Career

Mujica Lainez was preeminently a narrator and enumerator of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, from its earliest colonial times to the present. The society of Buenos Aires, especially high society, its past triumphs and present decadence, its quirks and geographies, its language and lies, its sexual vanities and dreams of love: he relished bringing all this to his elegantly written, quietly ironic, subtly subversive page. He was also a great translator. He translated

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Sonnets A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

and works by Racine,

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

, Marivaux, and others. Throughout his career he received certain honors and awards, including

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(1964), the distinction of Commander of

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(1967) given by the Italian government and the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

by the French government (1982). In 1964 he received the John F. Kennedy Prize for his novel ''Bomarzo'', shared with fellow Argentine writer Julio Cortázar for his novel ''

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a children's ...

'' (1963).

Works

Novels

*''Don Galaz de Buenos Aires'' (1938) *The porteño saga: **''Los ídolos'' (1952) **'' La casa'' (1954) **''Los viajeros'' (1955) **''Invitados en "El Paraíso"'' (1957) *''

'' (1962) * ''El unicornio'' (1965) translated as '' The Wandering Unicorn'' *''De milagros y de melancolías'' (1969) *''Cecil'' (1972) *'' El laberinto'' (1974) *''El viaje de los siete demonios'' (1974) *''Sergio'' (1976) *''Los cisnes'' (1977) *'' El gran teatro'' (1979) *''El brazalete'' (1981) *''El escarabajo'' (1982)

Short story collections

*''La galera'' (1936) *''Aquí vivieron'' (1949) *'' Misteriosa Buenos Aires'' (1950) *''Crónicas reales'' (1967) *''El brazalete y otros cuentos'' (1978) *''Cuentos inéditos'' (posthumous, 1993)

Essays

*''Glosas Castellanas'' (1936) *''Héctor Basaldúa'' (1956)

Biographies

*''Miguel Cané (padre)'' (1942) *''Vida de Aniceto el gallo'' (1943) *''Vida de Anastasio el pollo'' (1947)

Translations

*''Cuarenta y nueve sonetos de Shakespeare'' (1962) *''Las mujeres sabias'' by Moliére (1964) *''Las falsas confidencias'' by Pierre de Marivaux (1967) *''Fedra'' by Jean Racine (1972)

Collaborations

*''Canto a Buenos Aires'' (1943) *''Estampas de Buenos Aires'' (1946)

Opera

* Mujica Lainez adapted his novel ''

'' for the operatic stage, writing the libretto

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

to music by

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...

and premièred in 1967. This opera was banned by the Argentine military dictatorship in those days.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Carsuzán, María Emma. ''Manuel Mujica Lainez''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas, Biblioteca del Sesquicentenario, Serie "Argentinos en las Letras", Ministerio de Cultura y Educación, 1962. * Cruz, Jorge. ''Genio y figura de Manuel Mujica Lainez''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Eudeba, 1978. * Font, Eduardo. ''Realidad y fantasía en la narrativa de Manuel Mujica Laínez (1949–1962)''. Madrid, Spain: Ediciones José Porrúa Turanzas, 1976. ** I: "Mujica Lainez y su obra literaria" ** II: "''Aquí vivieron'' y ''Misteriosa Buenos Aires'': Estructura y género" ** III: "Estructura, tiempo e imaginación en ''Los ídolos''" ** IV: "La estructura de ''La Casa''" ** V: ''Bomarzo'': El género literario y el narrador" ** VI: "''Bomarzo'': La narrativa y la temática") * Yahni, Roberto and Pedro Orgambide (eds.) ''Enciclopedia de la literatura argentina''. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Sudamericana, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mujica Lainez, Manuel 1910 births 1984 deaths Writers from Buenos Aires Journalists from Buenos Aires Argentine art critics Argentine male novelists Argentine male short story writers Knights of the Legion of Honour Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Argentine male essayists Argentine LGBTQ novelists Argentine writers in French English–Spanish translators French–Spanish translators 20th-century Argentine translators 20th-century Argentine novelists 20th-century Argentine short story writers 20th-century Argentine essayists 20th-century Argentine male writers 20th-century Argentine LGBTQ people