Nobel Laureate Who Spoke Out for Ukraine, Mario Vargas Llosa, Dies at 89

Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa died on April 13 in Lima at the age of 89. His son, political commentator Álvaro Vargas Llosa, confirmed the death via social media, noting that the author passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.

Vargas Llosa is recognized as one of the most influential Latin American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 for his “cartography of power structures and trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.”

Over the course of his career, he published more than 50 works—novels, essays, and plays—translated into more than 45 languages.

Vargas Llosa maintained a lasting connection with Ukraine. In 2014, he visited Kyiv and Dnipro, meeting with students and expressing admiration for Ukraine’s democratic aspirations. During a lecture at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, he stated:

“I believe that here in Ukraine a heroic feat was accomplished in the name of freedom, which deeply impressed all men and women in the world who value democracy, the rule of law, and liberty.”

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Vargas Llosa publicly condemned the aggression. In interviews, he described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a “bloodthirsty dictator” and argued that Ukraine’s independence was unacceptable to him. He called the invasion a dangerous return to imperialist thinking that had no place in the 21st century.

In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine appointed Vargas Llosa as an ambassador for the Save Ukrainian Culture initiative.

The program focuses on protecting Ukraine’s cultural heritage from Russian destruction and disinformation. In this role, Vargas Llosa helped promote Ukrainian culture internationally, particularly in Latin America and Europe.

Legacy

Born in Arequipa, Peru, in 1936, Vargas Llosa began his literary career in the 1950s. His first novel, The Time of the Hero (originally La ciudad y los perros), exposed violence and abuse in a Peruvian military school and triggered strong backlash in his home country. The academy reportedly burned 1,000 copies of the book.

He went on to publish landmark works such as The Green House, Conversation in the Cathedral, The Feast of the Goat, and The Bad Girl. He was a central figure in the Latin American literary boom, alongside Gabriel García Márquez and Julio Cortázar, though his relationship with Márquez famously ended in a personal dispute.

Though he briefly ran for the presidency of Peru in 1990, Vargas Llosa later distanced himself from politics, calling himself a “reluctant politician” who remained committed to literature.

In Ukraine, several of his works have been translated, including The Discreet Hero, The Call of the Tribe, and The Feast of the Goat. His final novel, I Dedicate My Silence to You, was published in 2023.

Through literature and advocacy, Vargas Llosa leaves behind not only a literary legacy but also a record of standing with nations defending democracy—including Ukraine.

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