Sergio Pitol

Sergio Pitol Deméneghi (born 18 March 1933 in Puebla) is a prominent Mexican writer, translator and diplomat. In 2005 he received the Cervantes Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the Spanish-speaking world.

Early life

Pitol spent his childhood in Ingenio de Potrero, a provincial town in the Mexican state of Veracruz. His mother died when he was four years old and soon after Pitol contracted malaria leaving him bedridden until about the age of 12.[1] He was raised by his grandmother. As a teenager, Pitol moved to Córdoba, Veracruz.

Education and diplomatic work

In 1950, Pitol moved to Mexico City to study literature at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM). In 1960, he became a member of the Mexican Foreign Service and served over a number of years as cultural attaché in Rome, Belgrade, Warsaw, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, Prague, Budapest and Barcelona. In the 1980s he served as Mexico’s ambassador to Czechoslovakia.[2] Since 1993 he has lived in Xalapa, capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Writing career

Pitol’s publications as translator include literary works by such authors as Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jane Austen, Giorgio Bassani, Kazimierz Brandys, Anton Chekhov, Joseph Conrad, Witold Gombrowicz, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. He also served as a professor at the UNAM, at the Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, and at the University of Bristol, England.

Awards

In 2005, Pitol received the Cervantes Prize. Other major awards include the Premio Juan Rulfo (1999), Premio Herralde de Novela (1984), and the Premio Xavier Villaurrutia (1981).

Selection of works by Sergio Pitol

Novels

Essay-Memoirs

Short Story Collections

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Discurso Sergio Pitol, Premio Cervantes 2005 - RTVE.es". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  2. ↑ "Sergio Pitol Papers (C1283) -- Sergio Pitol Papers". findingaids.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-13.

External links

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