Zürcher Nachrichten - Peru mourns its literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa

Tributes from around the world and wreaths poured in as President Dina Boluarte attended a private wake at the Vargas Llosa family home for the novelist and Nobel laureate who died there Sunday aged 89.

The author of such acclaimed works as "Conversacion en la catedral" ("Conversation in the Cathedral," 1969) and "La guerra del fin del mundo" ("The War of the End of the World," 1981), will be cremated in a private ceremony.

Wreaths of white flowers decorated the outside of the family home in Lima's Barranco neighborhood, where admirers had gathered clutching Vargas Llosa books.

Some were in tears.

"His passing will mark a before and after in the history of world literature," one of them, 30-year-old artist David Marreros, told AFP.

Added philosopher Gustavo Ruiz, 55: "I am shedding tears because he was a very important reference for me, he used to say that 'Literature saved my life' and I always use this phrase."

The Nobel Prize committee, meanwhile, hailed Vargas Llosa as "a significant figure in Latin American literature and culture."

Reflecting on his deep love of storytelling and use of rich language, it recalled that he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat."

- 'Loved and admired' -

Boluarte, dressed in a black suit, was received for the wake by Vargas Llosa's son, Alvaro, who briefly addressed journalists at the entrance to the family home.

"My siblings Gonzalo and Morgana and I would like to express our infinite gratitude for the displays of affection that we are receiving from all over Peru, from friends, acquaintances and anonymous people who loved and admired my father," he said.

He also expressed thanks for condolences that have been pouring in from around the world.

The family has not specified the author's cause of death, but his health had been deteriorating in recent months.

The Peruvian flag was flown at half-staff at municipalities, military and police barracks and public institutions in compliance with a day of national mourning decreed by the government.

In Lima, bookstores displayed Vargas Llosa's works prominently in their windows, and offered discounts.

And at the Leoncio Prado Military School, where Vargas Llosa studied and where one of his novels is set, the cadets paid tribute by forming human lines spelling out the writer's initials.

- 'Master of the word' -

Born into a middle-class Peruvian family, Vargas Llosa was one of the greats of the Latin American literary "boom" of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Argentina's Julio Cortazar.

Rumors of the writer's deteriorating health had spread in recent months, during which he had been living out of the public eye.

He celebrated his 89th birthday on March 28.

The writer's "intellectual genius and enormous body of work will remain an enduring legacy for future generations," Boluarte posted on X.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum paid tribute to Vargas Llosa as a "great writer," while Chile's Gabriel Boric praised his ability to chronicle Latin America "with a pen of real tears in delicate and thought-provoking fiction."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent a message on X in which he thanked the "universal master of the word" for books he said were "key to understanding our times."

Vargas Llosa's works were translated into some 30 languages.

A Francophile, he lived in Paris for several years, but also in Madrid and Barcelona.

His family said there would be no public memorial, in accordance with instructions left by Vargas Llosa himself.

A.Senn--NZN