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