Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, a towering figure in Latin American literature,, died at 89, his family said Sunday.
“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family,” said a family statement shared by his son Alvaro Vargas Llosa on X.
“His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” it added.
The statement said there will be no public ceremony and that his remains will be cremated in line with his wishes.
Vargas Llosa, born Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa in 1936 in Arequipa, Peru, won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature.
A central figure in the 1960s “Latin American Boom” movement, Vargas Llosa’s work explored Peru’s political and cultural realities.
His works gained global acclaim and were translated into numerous languages.
His best-known work includes The Time of the Hero (La Ciudad y los Perros), The Green House (La Casa Verde), The War of the End of the World (La guerra del fin del mundo), The Bad Girl (Travesuras de la niña) and The Dream of the Celt (El sueño del celta).