María Luisa Mendoza (17 May 1930 – 29 June 2018), also known as La China Mendoza, was a Mexican journalist, novelist and politician. She served as a federal delegate from the state of Guanajuato to the 53rd Mexican legislature (01 Sep 1985 – 31 Aug 1988).

Biography

María Luisa Mendoza was born on 17 May 1930 in

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

, Mexico. She studied Spanish literature at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM); interior design at Universidad Femenina de México; and scenery design at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). She began her career writing as a journalist for ''El Zocalo'', collaborating with the cultural paper ''El Gallo Ilustrado'', and co-founding ''El Día''. She also published with ''Cine Mundial'', ''Excélsior'', ''Fin de Semana'', ''Mujer de Hoy'', ''Revista Mujeres'', ''Novedades'', ''El Sol de México'', ''El Universal'', and ''El Zócalo''. Between 1968 and 1969, Mendoza was a fellow at the Centro Mexicano de Escritores (Center of Mexican Writers). Besides writing, Mendoza has taught both set design and journalism, and served as the secretary of the Awards Commission of the

Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas The Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (, AMACC) is a professional honorary organization founded on July 3, 1946, in Mexico City to promote the dissemination, research, preservation, development, and defense of the cinematographic arts an ...

. She has been a member of the

Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte The Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (SNCA; ''National System of Art Creators'') is program developed by the former Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, and founded per presidential decree on September 3, 1993. Its goal is the advance ...

(SNCA) since 1997. She has worked in television, as a news reporter and served as a politician to the federal 53rd legislature from the state of Guanajuato.

Death and legacy

Mendoza wrote her last column on 23 June 2018 and died 29 June 2018 in Mexico City at the Hospital de Nutrición.

Awards

* 1971 Magda Donato Prize for ''Con él, conmigo, con nosotros tres'' * 1972 National Journalism Prize and Bernal Díaz del Castillo Prize for ''Crónicas de Chile'' * 1973 Award from the

Secretariat of Public Education In Mexico, the Secretariat of Public Education ( in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation o ...

(SEP) for the best television commentary (for the news show ''24 hours'') on drug addiction * 1974 Honorable Mention for a series of news reports sent from the USSR to ''El Universal'' * 1975 Francisco Zarco Prize for periodical works of national interest (articles appeared in US magazines ''Cosmopolitan'', ''Good Housekeeping'', and ''Vanity'') * 1983 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Award from the Congress of the State of Guanajuato * 1984 National Journalism Prize for her program “Un Día un Escritor” on Channel 13 and lifetime achievements * 2001 National Novel Prize José Rubén Romero for ''De amor y lujo''

Selected works

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

: : ''La O por lo redondo'', México, Grijalbo, 1971. : ''Trompo a la uña'', artículos periodísticos de 1981 a 1989, México, Gobierno del estado de

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

, Los que Escriben la Historia, 1989. *

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

: : ''Tris de sol'' (sobre Carmen Serdán), México, Presidencia de la República, 1976. : ''María Luisa Mendoza. De cuerpo entero: Menguas y contrafuertes'' (autobiografía), México, UNAM/Corunda, 1991. *

Short Story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

: : ''Ojos de papel volando'', México, Joaquín Mortiz, 1985 *

Essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

: : ''Crítica de la crítica'', México,

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

, 1966. : ''Qué pasa con el teatro en México?'', México, Novaro, 1971. : ''2 palabras 2'' (en colaboración con Edmundo Domínguez Aragonés), México, Presidencia de la República, 1972. : ''Oiga usted!'', Samo, 1973. : ''Maquinita de hacer ruido'' (dibujos de Carmen Parra), edición del autor, 1973. : ''Las cosas'', México, Joaquín Mortiz, 1976. : ''El teatro Juárez'', México,

Universidad de Guanajuato The Universidad de Guanajuato (in English language, English, the University of Guanajuato) is a university based in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, made up of about 47,108 students in programs ranging from high school level to the doctorate l ...

, 1978. : ''El retrato de mi gentedad'', México, Guanajuato,

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, ''National Institute of Anthropology and History'') is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the researc ...

(INAH)/Museo de la Alhóndiga de Granaditas, 1980. *

Screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

: : ''Compañero Presidente'' (sobre

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

), cortometraje,

Festival Cervantino The Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC), popularly known as ''El Cervantino'', is a festival which takes place each fall in the Guanajuato, Guanajuato, city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. The festival originates from the mid 20th ...

, 1975. : ''Carta a una amiga'', cortometraje, 1973. : ''

a la vista!'', cortometraje, Festival Cervantino 1974. : ''Guanajuato a tiro de sangre'', cortometraje, Festival Cervantino 1975. *

Novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

: : ''Con él, conmigo, con nosotros tres'', México, Joaquín Mortiz, 1971. : ''De ausencia'', México, Joaquín Mortiz, 197

: ''El perro de la escribana'', México, Joaquín Mortiz, 1980. *

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

: : ''Crónicas de

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

'', México, El Día, 1972. : ''Allende el bravo (en colaboración con Edmundo Domínguez Aragonés), México, Diana, 1973. : ''Ra, Re, Ri, Ro, Rusia! la

URSS URSS is an alternative spelling of USSR. In other languages, it stands for ''Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas'' ( Spanish), ''Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques'' ( French), ''Unyon ng mga Republikang Sosyalistang Sobyet'' ...

'', México,

Fondo de Cultura Económica Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE or simply "Fondo") is a Spanish language, non-profit publishing group, partly funded by the Mexican government. It is based in Mexico but it has subsidiaries throughout the Spanish-speaking world. It was founded ...

(FCE), 1974.

References

External links

María Luisa Mendoza recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on May 23, 1978
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Maria Luisa 1930 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Mexican women writers Mexican journalists Mexican women journalists Mexican novelists Writers from Guanajuato National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni