Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa Dies at 89 in Lima

Peruvian-Spanish literary giant and Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa has died at the age of 89, his family announced on Friday. He passed away peacefully in Lima, Peru, surrounded by his loved ones, according to a statement shared by his son, Álvaro Vargas Llosa, on social media platform X.

Vargas Llosa, one of the most influential writers of the 20th and 21st centuries, was widely celebrated for his unflinching explorations of authoritarianism, freedom, and power. His acclaimed novels include Conversation in the Cathedral (1969), The War of the End of the World (1981), and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977), the latter of which was adapted into the 1990 film Tune in Tomorrow.

In 2010, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for what the Swedish Academy described as “his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.”

Born in Arequipa, southern Peru, Vargas Llosa spent part of his early life in Bolivia before returning to Peru, where he later studied literature and law. He launched his literary career in the early 1950s with a play, La Huida del Inca, and rose to global prominence after the release of his debut novel, The Time of the Hero (1963).

Over the decades, Vargas Llosa also worked as a journalist, broadcaster, and academic, living and teaching across Europe and the United States. His political ambitions came to the forefront in 1990 when he ran for president of Peru on a platform advocating individual liberty and limited government. Following his electoral loss, he moved to Spain and became a Spanish citizen in 1993.

His later works include The Feast of the Goat (2000), a historical novel about the Dominican Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo, and The Bad Girl (2006). In 1994, he received the prestigious Cervantes Prize for his lifetime contributions to Spanish-language literature.

Paying tribute, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte described Vargas Llosa as an “illustrious Peruvian of all time,” stating that his legacy will inspire generations to come.

His family said a private funeral ceremony will be held, attended by close friends and relatives. “We hope that readers around the world will find comfort in the rich, adventurous, and fruitful life he lived — a life that leaves behind a powerful literary legacy,” his children said.