Mercedes Raquel Barcha Pardo (November 6, 1932 – August 15, 2020) was the wife of novelist

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

(1927–2014).

Life

Barcha was born on November 6, 1932, in

Magangué Magangué is a municipality of Colombia in the Department of Bolivar. The town is located in the Magdalena River; 20 km north of the mouth of the Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental an ...

, Colombia. Barcha is best known for her financial and emotional support of her

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning husband, the author

. She met García Márquez in 1941 and they married in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

in 1958. The couple had two children, including director Rodrigo García. In 2014, after García Márquez's death, she served as the President Emerita of the ''Gabriel Garcia Marquez Iberoamerican Foundation for New Journalism'' in Cartagena, Colombia. In 2017, she founded the ''Fundación Gabo'' to promote García Márquez's legacy. Barcha died in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

on August 15, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcha, Mercedes 1932 births 2020 deaths Gabriel García Márquez