The Brazilian writer Nélida Piñón, winner of the 2005 Prince of Asturias Award, who recently received Spanish nationality due to the Galician origin of her family, died this Saturday in Lisbon at the age of 85, reported the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Piñón, author of 25 books, including novels, short stories, essays and memoirs, was the first Brazilian to receive the main Ibero-American literature awards, such as the Juan Rulfo or Menéndez Pelayo, and also the first woman to preside over the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL).
Up to now, the reason for his death has not been reported, but it was learned that the ABL is managing the transfer of the body so that it can be held for a wake in the “Petit Trianon”, the main hall of the Academy, which was like a second home for the writer.
The writer had a close link with Spain because her parents and grandparents were Galician emigrants in Brazil and for this reason she received the nationality of the Iberian country at the beginning of this year.
Piñon made his debut in literature with the novel “Gabriel Arcanjo’s Guide-Map”, released in 1961 and his last work was “One day I will arrive at Sagrés” (Record), presented in Brazil in October 2020.
His masterpiece is “The Republic of Dreams” (1984), which narrates the massive exodus of Galician emigrants to Latin America.
The writer, along with Jorge Amado and Paulo Coelho, is one of the best-known names in Brazilian literature abroad and was part of the so-called “Latin American boom”, which also includes authors such as the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, the Argentine Julio Cortázar, Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa and Mexican Carlos Fuentes.
