World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Octavio Paz Lozano

オクタビオ・パス・ロサノ

Octavio Paz Lozano

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1914-03-31 （Mexico City, Mexico）
Died
1998-04-19 （Mexico City, Mexico） age 84
Nationality
Mexican
Languages
Spanish
Residence History
Mexico City (birthplace, long-term residence) → Los Angeles (brief) → Mérida, Yucatán (worked in 1930s) → New York (diplomatic posting) → Paris (diplomatic posting, creative periods) → Tokyo (diplomatic posting, 1952) → Geneva (diplomatic posting) → New Delhi (served as Mexican ambassador)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Poet, Diplomat, Essayist, Editor
Active Years
1931-1998
Affiliations
Colegio Nacional (Mexico), Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (service as diplomat)
Memberships
Colegio Nacional
Influenced By
T. S. Eliot, Antonio Machado, Gerardo Diego, André Breton (Surrealism), Pablo Neruda
Influenced
Carlos Fuentes, Writers of the Hungry Generation (India), Guillermo Sheridan (biographer, critic)

Education

National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
Law and Literature (studies)
Period: 1930–1936
Country: Mexico
Abandoned law studies and pursued literary career
University of California, Berkeley
Research/study (Guggenheim fellowship)
Period: 1943
Country: United States
Held a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1943

Awards

Jerusalem Prize
1977
Organization: Jerusalem Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Miguel de Cervantes Prize
1981
Organization: Government of Spain / Cervantes Prize committee
Result: 受賞
Neustadt International Prize for Literature
1982
Organization: Neustadt Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Nobel Prize in Literature
1990
Work: Collected poems and body of work (lifetime achievement)
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Literature)
1977
Organization: Government of Mexico
Result: 受賞
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade
Organization: German Book Trade
Result: 受賞
Prix Alexis de Tocqueville
1989
Organization: Prix Alexis de Tocqueville Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Labyrinth of Solitude (El Laberinto de la Soledad)

1950 Essay (cultural analysis)

An analysis of Mexican identity and history, exploring solitude and the masks people wear; a seminal long essay on Mexican culture.

Cultural identityHistorySolitude
Translations
  • English translation: The Labyrinth of Solitude (1961)

Sunstone (Piedra de Sol)

1957 Poetry (long poem)

A long poem meditating on time, love, and myth; notable for formal technique and rich symbolism.

TimeLoveMyth
Translations
  • Translated into English and multiple other languages

Liberty under Oath (Libertad bajo palabra)

1949 Poetry collection

A collection of postwar poems showing important stages in his poetic development.

SocietyIndividualLanguage

The Monkey Grammarian (El mono gramático)

1974 Poetry/prose hybrid

A hybrid work mixing poetic experiment and reflections on language; contains prose-poetry elements.

LanguagePoetic experimentation
Translations
  • English translation: The Monkey Grammarian (translated by Helen Lane)

Rappaccini's Daughter (play)

1956 Drama (adaptation)

A play adapted from Hawthorne's story with influences from Indian and Noh theatre; later adapted as an opera.

Beauty and poisonNature and civilization
Adaptations
  • [Opera] Rappaccini's Daughter (opera) / Daniel Catán (1992)
  • [Stage (English production)] Rappaccini's Daughter (English production) / Sebastian Doggart (1996)

Bibliography

  • Luna silvestre (1933)
  • Libertad bajo palabra (1949)
  • Piedra de Sol (1957)
  • El laberinto de la soledad (1950)
  • El mono gramático (1974)
  • Árbol adentro (1987)

Adaptations

  • Opera adaptation of Rappaccini's Daughter (composer: Daniel Catán, 1992)

Translations by Author

  • Translation into Spanish of Matsuo Bashō (Sendas de Oku, 1957, co-translator)
  • Anthology of Fernando Pessoa (1962)

Translations of Works

  • Collected Poems 1957–1987 (English translation, edited by Eliot Weinberger)
  • The Labyrinth of Solitude (English translation, 1961)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Influenced by SurrealismPhilosophical and analytical essay styleSymbolist and formally experimental poetry
Recurring Motifs
SolitudeTimeLove and eroticismCultural identityReligion and myth

Health

  • Cancer
    1998
    Died of cancer in 1998

Legacy

Octavio Paz is a leading Mexican poet and thinker whose poetry and essays deepened understanding of Mexican culture. He received international recognition—including the Jerusalem Prize (1977), Cervantes Prize (1981), and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1990)—and influenced intellectual debate in Latin America through his magazine Vuelta.

Museums

  • Octavio Paz Memorial (Colegio de San Ildefonso) Mexico City, Colegio de San Ildefonso

Academic Societies

  • Colegio Nacional

Archives

  • Ashes and memorial materials kept at Colegio de San Ildefonso

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited figure in Latin American cultural and intellectual discourse

Quotes

  • There can be no society without poetry, but society can never be realized as poetry.
    Source: Signs in Rotation (cited) (1967)

Trivia

  • As a child he was sometimes mistaken for a foreigner because of his blue eyes.
  • His ashes, together with those of his wife Marie-José Tramini, are kept at the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City.
  • As editor of the magazine Vuelta he influenced intellectual debate across Latin America.