Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (14 June 1939–18 October 2003) was a prolific Spanish writer from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humorist, critic and political prisoner as well as a

gastronome Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gast ...

and a

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

supporter.

Biography

Vázquez Montalbán was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

on 14 June 1939. His parents did not register his birth until 27 July; many sources show 27 July or 14 July as his birth date. He studied Philosophy at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

and was also a member of the

Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia The Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya, PSUC) was a communist political party active in Catalonia between 1936 and 1997. It was the Catalan branch of the Communist Party of Spain and the only party n ...

. He spent 18 months in prison after attending a 1962 miner's strike. He began writing poetry in 1967. He is one of the '' Novísimos'' from Jose María Castellet. His poetic works until 1986 are collected in ''Memoria y deseo'' ("Memory and desire"). The same characteristic features of his poetry appear in his novels. ''

Los mares del Sur ''The South Seas'' ( es, Los mares del Sur) is a 1979 Spanish novel written by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. It was listed as one of the best hundred novels in 20th century. In 1979 it received the Premio Planeta The Premio Planeta de Novela is a ...

'', part of the Pepe Carvalho series, won the Planeta Award in 1979, bringing fame for both the writer and the fictional detective, who would later be portrayed in films, TV series and comic strips. In 1988, he wrote and published a children's book called, ''Escenas de la Literatura Universal y Retratos de Grandes Autores'' (English version as "Scenes from World Literature and Portraits of Greatest Authors"), which is illustrated by

Willi Glasauer Willi Glasauer (born 9 December 1938 in Stříbro) is a German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German languag ...

, and published by Círculo de Lectores. This children's book includes fun facts, trivia, and information accompanied by photos and

's illustrations of the likes of

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, and

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. Other narrative works include narrative productions '' Galíndez'' (1991), winner of the National Narrative Award; '' El estrangulador'' (The strangler) (1994) and '' Erec y Enide'' (Erec and Enide) (2002). In 1992 he published '' Autobiografía del general Franco'', which was awarded the 1994 international prize ''Premio Internacional de Literatura Ennio Flaiano''. He also wrote non-literary works in Catalan, notably ''L'art del menjar a Catalunya'' (1977). For many years, he contributed columns and articles to the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

-based daily newspaper ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

''. He died in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, while returning to his home country from a speaking tour of Australia. His last book, ''La aznaridad'', was published posthumously.

Detective Carvalho saga

The first novel featuring the 50-year-old gastronome-detective

Pepe Carvalho Pepe Carvalho is a fictional private detective, the protagonist of a series of novels written by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. The character Carvalho has a rich, complex and contradictory personality. The author uses his adventures to describe, ...

is ''Yo maté a Kennedy'' (''I killed Kennedy'') in 1972, followed by ''Tatuaje'' (''Tattoo'') in 1975 and ''La soledad del manager'' (''The Angst-Ridden Executive'') in 1977. The rest of the

saga is as follows: *''

'' 1979 *''Asesinato en el Comité Central'' (Murder in the Central Committee) 1981 *''Los pájaros de Bangkok'' (The Birds of Bangkok) 1983 *''La rosa de Alejandría'' (Alexandria's Rose) 1984 *''El balneario'' (The Spa) 1986 *''

El delantero centro fue asesinado al atardecer ''El delantero centro fue asesinado al atardecer'' (1989) (English, ''Offside'') is a novel from Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Plot The private detective Pepe Carvalho is enquiring about a list of death threats arriving after that FC Barcelona ...

'' (Offside) 1989 *''El laberinto griego'' (The Greek Labyrinth) 1991 *''Sabotaje olímpico'' (Olympic Sabotage) 1993 *''El hermano pequeño'' (The Little Brother) 1994 *''El Premio'' (The Prize) 1996 *''Quinteto de Buenos Aires'' (Buenos Aires Quintet) 1997 *''El hombre de mi vida'' (The Man of My Life) 2000 *''Milenio Carvalho'' (Carvalho Millennium) 2004, edited in two parts.

The gastronome

Vázquez Montalbán was also a gastronome. Gastronomical references can be found in all the novels of the Pepe Carvalho series, which include some recipes such as the "rice

tagliatelle Tagliatelle (; from the Italian ''tagliare'', meaning "to cut") are a traditional type of pasta from the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. Individual pieces of ''tagliatelle'' are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettucci ...

fideuà Fideuà (dialectal pronunciation of the Valencian word ''fideuada'' "large amount of noodles" from Hisp. Ar. ''fidáwš'') is a seafood dish originally from the coast of Valencia that is similar to paella, and even more so to arròs a banda, bu ...

" that Carvalho prepares in ''Los pájaros de Bangkok''. He displays all his gastronomic knowledge, with erudition and humility, in ''Contra los Gourmets'' (Against

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

s), an initiation in the world of gastronomy. ''Contra los Gourmets'' concentrates on

Spanish cuisine Spanish cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from Spain. Olive oil (of which Spain is the world's largest producer) is heavily used in Spanish cuisine. It forms the base of many vegetable sauces (known in Spanish as ''sofri ...

, but covers international cuisine, traditional cuisine and

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...

. He also considers eating fashions such as "healthy food" and "light products". Other gastronomic works by Montalbán are ''L'art del menjar a Catalunya'' (Cocina Catalana), ''Recetas inmorales'' (Immoral recipes) and ''Reflexiones de Robinsón ante un bacalao''.

Essays

He wrote essays about journalism, politics, sociology, sports, history, cuisine, biographies, literature or music. His first essay, ''Informe sobre la Información'' (Report about Information) (1963) is still one of the best studies on journalism ever published in Spain. Some of his other works are: *''Crónica sentimental de España'' (Sentimental Chronicle of Spain), 1971 *''

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

'', 1972 *''El libro gris de Televisión Española'' (The Grey TV Book), 1973 *''Diccionario del Franquismo'', (Dictionary of the Franco times) 1977 *''Panfleto desde el planeta de los simios'' (Pamphlet from the Planet of the Apes), 1995 *''Un polaco en la corte del rey Juan Carlos'' (A Pole - meaning a Catalan, here used ironically - in the Court of King Juan Carlos), 1996, an analysis of the political life in Madrid, in the last years of Felipe González's government. *''Y Dios entró en La Habana'' (And God entered

La Habana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

), 1998, about

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

and the visit of the Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. *''Marcos: el señor de los espejos'' (Marcos: the Lord of the Mirrors), 1999.

Awards in his name

To commemorate him, the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Catalan College of Journalists have awarded the Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Award since 2004. The award includes two categories: * Sport Journalism. * Cultural and/or Political Journalism. Also, the Italian writer

Andrea Camilleri Andrea Calogero Camilleri (; 6 September 1925 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian writer. Biography Originally from Porto Empedocle, Girgenti, Sicily, Camilleri began university studies in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Palermo, b ...

called his main character

Salvo Montalbano Inspector, the chief of a precinct or station of the Italian National Police, i.e. a . Salvo Montalbano is a fictional police chief who is a brilliant detective created by Italian writer Andrea Camilleri in a series of novels and short stories. ...

in honour of him.

Notes

External links

Website about Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

Some of his poems in Spanish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez Montalban, Manuel 1939 births 2003 deaths Writers from Barcelona Spanish male novelists Journalists from Catalonia Novísimos Spanish mystery writers Food writers from Catalonia Spanish communists Spanish male poets Spanish gastronomes Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish journalists