Nobel Prize-winning writer Mario Vargas Llosa dies at 89

Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian Nobel laureate in literature, died at 89 in his Lima home on the night of April 12-13, 2025, surrounded by family, his son Álvaro Vargas Llosa announced. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, he was recognized for his mapping of power structures and incisive portrayals of resistance, revolt, and human defeat. Born in Arequipa in 1936, he attended the Leoncio Prado military academy, an experience that inspired his debut novel "The City and the Dogs" (1963), which won the Spanish Critics' Prize. His subsequent works include "The Green House" (1966), winner of the Rómulo Gallegos Prize; "Conversation in the Cathedral" (1969); "Captain Pantoja and the Special Services" (1973); "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" (1977); "The War of the End of the World" (1981); "The Feast of the Goat" (2000); and "The Dream of the Celt" (2010). He also wrote political thrillers, erotic novels, and historical fiction. Politically, he ran for Peru's presidency in 1990 on a liberal platform but lost to Alberto Fujimori. After his defeat, he moved to Spain, obtaining citizenship in 1993, and later returned to Peru. In 2022, he supported Jair Bolsonaro's candidacy in Brazil. He was a close friend of Gabriel García Márquez until political differences led to a famous 1976 fistfight in Mexico City. Vargas Llosa was also a journalist, essayist, and playwright.