Mario Monteforte Toledo (September 15, 1911 – September 4, 2003) was a
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
n writer,
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
tist, and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. Born in
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...
, he played important roles in the governments of both
Juan José Arévalo
Juan José Arévalo Bermejo (10 September 1904 – 8 October 1990) was a Guatemalan professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United ...
and
Jacobo Arbenz
Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Alfredo Jacobo (born 1982), Olympic breaststroke swimmer from Mexico
* Cesar Chavez Jacobo, Dominican profession ...
, including periods as
Ambassador to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
between 1946 and 1947, as a deputy in the
National Congress from 1947 to 1951, and being both
President of the Congress and Vice-President between 1948 and 1949 before retiring from politics in 1951. With the fall of the Arbenz administration in 1954, Monteforte went into exile in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
until 1987.
A master of narrative prose, in 1993, Mario Monteforte was awarded the
Guatemala National Prize in Literature
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...
for his body of work. He died of heart disease in Guatemala City.
Published work
Novels
*''Anaité'' (1948)
*''Entre la piedra y la cruz'' (1948)
*''Donde acaban los caminos'' (1952)
*''Una manera de morir'' (1958)
*''Llegaron del mar'' (1966)
*''Los desencontrados'' (1977)
*''Unas vísperas muy largas'' (1996)
*''Los adoradores de la muerte'' (2000)
Short stories
*''La cueva sin quietud'' (1949)
*''Cuentos de derrota y esperanza'' (1962)
*''Casi todos los cuentos'' (anthology) (1982
*''Pascualito'' (children's story) (1991)
*''La isla de las navajas'' (1993)
*''Cuentos de la Biblia'' (2001)
Essays
*''Guatemala. Monografía sociológica'' (1959–1965)
*''Las piedras vivas'' (1965)
*''Centroamérica, subdesarrollo y dependencia'' (1973)
*''Mirada sobre Latinoamérica'' (1975)
*''Literatura, ideología y lenguaje'' (1983)
*''Los signos del hombre'' (1984)
*''Las formas y los días - El barroco en Guatemala'' (1989)
*''Palabras del retorno'' (1992).
External links
Review of Monteforte's autobiographical film ''Donde acaban los Caminos''
1911 births
2003 deaths
Writers from Guatemala City
Politicians from Guatemala City
Members of the Congress of Guatemala
Presidents of the Congress of Guatemala
Guatemalan diplomats
Guatemalan sociologists
Guatemalan novelists
Male novelists
Guatemalan male short story writers
Guatemalan short story writers
Guatemalan essayists
Male essayists
Guatemalan dramatists and playwrights
Guatemalan male writers
Male dramatists and playwrights
Permanent Representatives of Guatemala to the United Nations
Vice presidents of Guatemala
20th-century novelists
20th-century dramatists and playwrights
20th-century short story writers
20th-century essayists
20th-century male writers
{{Guatemala-politician-stub