Jorge Ibargüengoitia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jorge Ibargüengoitia
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| Born | Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón 22 January 1928 Guanajuato, Guanajuato |
| Died | 27 November 1983 (aged 55) Mejorada del Campo, Madrid, Spain |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Spanish |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Alma mater | National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) |
| Period | 1964-1983 |
| Genre | Novel |
| Notable works | Los relámpagos de agosto (1964) |
| Spouse | Joy Laville |
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Jorge Ibargüengoitia Antillón (born January 22, 1928 – died November 27, 1983) was a famous Mexican writer. He wrote novels and plays that were very popular. His stories often used humor and satire to talk about serious topics. Some of his well-known works include The Dead Girls, Two Crimes, and The Lightning of August. He also wrote short stories and articles for newspapers. Today, he is seen as one of the most important writers in Latin American literature.
Jorge was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. In 1955, he received a scholarship to study in New York City. Five years later, he won a literary award in Mexico City. Sadly, he died in a plane crash on November 27, 1983, while trying to land in Madrid, Spain.
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About Jorge Ibargüengoitia
Jorge Ibargüengoitia was born in 1928 in the city of Guanajuato. His father passed away when Jorge was only eight months old. His mother, María de la Luz Antillón, then moved with young Jorge to Mexico City. They wanted to be closer to her family. So, Jorge grew up mainly with his mother and other women in her family.
Early Life and Education
For his early schooling, Jorge attended schools run by religious groups. He was also a boy scout. In 1947, he went to a big annual meeting for scouts called a Jamboree. This trip allowed him to travel through France, Italy, Switzerland, and England for three months. His friend, the painter Manuel Felguérez, who was on the same trip, later said that they both found it an amazing experience. They decided they wanted to do something with their lives that would let them keep traveling.
Because his family wanted him to, Jorge started studying engineering at UNAM in 1945. However, he left in 1949 before finishing his degree. He once wrote about this: "I grew up surrounded by women who loved me. They wanted me to be an engineer. They had lost their money and hoped I would earn it back... When I had two years left of engineering, I decided to quit and focus on writing. The women in my house complained about that choice for 15 years... Later, they got used to it." After leaving university, he moved back to Guanajuato, where his family still owned land.
Becoming a Writer
During his time in Guanajuato, Ibargüengoitia met Salvador Novo, a famous writer who was putting on a play. This meeting made a big impression on Jorge. He decided to go back to Mexico City and study at UNAM again. This time, he studied Dramatic Arts and became a specialist in theatre. One of his teachers was Rodolfo Usigli, another well-known writer.
After finishing his studies, Jorge started teaching. He even took over his former teacher Rodolfo Usigli's position when Usigli retired. He also started applying for and winning scholarships. One important scholarship was a Rockefeller scholarship in 1955, which allowed him to go to New York to continue his writing career.
In 1957, Ibargüengoitia moved to a house in Coyoacán, a district of Mexico City, with his mother and aunt. Years later, in 1963 or 1964, he met the artist Joy Laville in a bookstore. They got married in 1973. They lived in Coyoacán until his mother passed away. After that, they decided to travel around Europe. In 1980, they settled down permanently in Paris, France.
Jorge's Writing Career
Theatre Plays
While he was still a student in 1953, Jorge Ibargüengoitia wrote several plays. They were quite successful and seemed to show he would have a great career in theatre. Some of these early plays included Susana y los jóvenes and Ante varias esfinges. He continued writing plays after he graduated.
However, his later plays were not as successful. In the early 1960s, his connection to theatre weakened. This was partly because in an interview, his former teacher Rodolfo Usigli didn't mention Jorge as one of his favorite students. Jorge felt hurt by this, as he believed he had been one of Usigli's best students.
Between 1961 and 1964, Ibargüengoitia wrote reviews of theatre plays for a magazine called Revista de la Universidad. His reviews were often controversial. He wasn't afraid to write negative reviews about playwrights whom others considered very important. His negative reviews of two plays by Alfonso Reyes caused such a stir in Mexican literary circles that Jorge decided to leave the job.
In 1962, he wrote his last play, El atentado. This play won a major award called the Casa de las Américas Prize.
Novels
In the 1950s, Ibargüengoitia began reading a lot about the Mexican Revolution. He especially liked the life stories of the people who were involved in it. While he was researching for his play El atentado, he got the idea to write a novel about the Mexican Revolution. This led to his book Los Relámpagos de Agosto (1964). It's a fictional story based on the end of the revolution and how new political groups formed in Mexico. The novel won the Casa de las Américas Prize. In this book, you can already see the writing style that would make him famous: taking real-life events and telling them in a funny, sarcastic way.
His next book, La ley de Herodes (1967), is a collection of short stories. Most of these stories are clearly based on things that happened in his own life. For example, he wrote about the difficulties of getting a house loan in Mexico and his experiences at a student residence in New York. Like his novels, these stories mix humor and funny situations.
Maten al león (1969) is a novel set on an imaginary island. It tells a story that reflects the dictatorships in Latin American countries. It has funny details, but the ending is serious. Estas ruinas que ves (1975) is a funny story based on real details of university life in Guanajuato. It shows things like church bells ringing during a speech or cultural events where everyone knows each other from childhood.
For Las Muertas (1977), he wrote about some very unusual criminals from his home state. Dos crímenes (1979) is a novel about a man running from the police. He hides at his rich uncle's house, where family secrets and relationships unfold. His last novel, Los pasos de López, was published in 1982. It's a fictional memoir with characters based on Miguel Hidalgo and others involved in a famous Mexican independence plot from 1810. These three novels are sometimes called the "Plan de Abajo trilogy." This is because they all take place in a made-up region called Plan de Abajo, which is very similar to Ibargüengoitia's home state of Guanajuato.
Jorge Ibargüengoitia passed away before he could finish his seventh novel. It was going to be set during the time of the Second Mexican Empire.
Weekly Articles
Ibargüengoitia was also well-known for his weekly articles in the Mexico City newspaper Excelsior. Later, he wrote for the magazines Vuelta and Proceso. These articles have been collected and published in several books.
Writing Style
Ibargüengoitia said that Evelyn Waugh and Louis-Ferdinand Céline were his biggest influences.
He is considered one of the first writers who "demystified" Mexican history. This means he showed the human side of heroic figures, using irony, humor, and even exaggerated descriptions. He was most interested in the periods of Mexican Independence and the Mexican Revolution.
Besides historical times, Ibargüengoitia often wrote about small details, funny stories, and problems from his own daily life. His home state of Guanajuato was also often the setting for his stories. However, he almost always used made-up names for places, like Cuévano or Plan de Abajo.
The writer once said he never meant to make anyone laugh. He thought laughter was useless and a waste of time.
Death and Legacy
In 1983, Gabriel García Márquez invited Ibargüengoitia to a meeting of Hispanic-American culture in Colombia. Even though he first said no, he changed his mind at the last minute. He boarded Avianca Flight 011 from Paris, which was supposed to land in Madrid. The plane crashed near the Madrid-Barajas airport on November 27, 1983. He died along with other famous writers and 177 other people.
Jorge Ibargüengoitia is buried in Antillon Park in Guanajuato. This park is named after his great-grandfather, General Florencio Antillón. A special plaque marks his grave, which simply says: "Here lies Jorge Ibargüengoitia in the park of his great-grandfather, who fought against the French."
His publisher says that Ibargüengoitia's books are still popular in libraries and bookstores. His work has also received new attention recently, thanks to scholars and writers like Juan Villoro. His personal writings and papers are kept at the Firestone Library at Princeton University.
Awards
- Theatre Prize Ciudad de México for La conspiración vendida (1960)
- Theatre Prize Casa de las Américas for El atentado (1963)
- Novel Prize Casa de las Américas for Los relámpagos de agosto (1964)
- International Novel Prize México for Estas ruinas que ves (1975)
See also
In Spanish: Jorge Ibargüengoitia para niños
- Esperpento
- Joy Laville
