Mario Vargas Llosa, celebrated Peruvian author and Nobel winner, dies at 89

The Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa died Sunday in Lima at the age of 89, his son Alvaro Vargas Llosa announced.

© Leonardo Cendamo

“His passing will sadden relatives, friends, and readers around the world, but we hope they find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he lived a long, rich, and fruitful life and leaves behind a body of work that will outlive him,” he said on X. 

The son of the Nobel Prize-winning author has asked the media and the writer’s followers to respect the family’s privacy as they mourn his passing.

“In the coming hours and days, we will proceed according to his wishes—there will be no public ceremony. Our mother, our children, and we, his family, hope to have the space and privacy to say goodbye in the company of close friends,” the statement reads.

© Leonardo Cendamo

Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 for his powerful exploration of power, resistance, and human struggle. The Swedish Academy praised his sharp depictions of how individuals confront authority, as seen in novels like The Time of the Hero, Conversation in the Cathedral, and The War of the End of the World. His work blends social critique with psychological depth, securing his place as a major voice in world literature.

In 2022, Vargas Llosa returned to live in his apartment in Lima’s bohemian Barranco district, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There, he rekindled his relationship with his wife, Patricia Llosa, and resumed his daily walks through the city he called home.

In February 2023, he became the first Spanish-language author to be inducted into the French Academy. In his speech, he credited France—where he began writing some of his most notable novels—for helping him discover “another Latin America.”

This is a developing story. More details to follow.