Reyes, Alfonso

(17 May 1889, Monterrey, Nuevo León – 27 December 1959, Mexico City) was a Mexican writer, philosopher, and diplomat. He was son of General Don Bernardo Reyes y Ogazón, and of Doña Aurelia Ochoa y Sapi'sn de Reyes. He was educated primarily in Mexico City. In 1909, he and other like-minded young intellectuals such as Martín Luis Guzmán and José Vasconcelos, founded the "Ateneo de la Juventud" a cultural society to promote new cultural and aesthetic ideals and educational reform in Mexico. At the age of 21, he published his first book "Cuestiones Estéticas". The following year, 1912, he wrote a short story "La Cena", considered a forerunner of surrealism and of Latin American magical realism. In that year he was also named Secretary of the "Escuela Nacional de Altos Estudios" at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He obtained his law degree in 1913 and joined Mexico's diplomatic service in France. From 1914 to 1924, he was posted in Madrid (Spain), and was Mexico's Chargé d'affaires, 1920-24. He also pursued a literary career as journalist, investigator, translator, critic, and writer. By virtue of this extended stay in Madrid, he was spared the violence of the Mexican Revolution. In 1915, he wrote what is probably his best known essay, "Visión de Anáhuac (1519)," with its famous epigraph, "Viajero: has llegado a la región más transparente del aire", the source of the title of Carlos Fuentes's novel "La región más transparente".

He continued his diplomatic service in Paris (1925-27), then served as ambassador to Argentina (1927-30 and 1936-37) and Brazil (1930-35 and 1938-39). In 1939, he retired from the diplomatic corps and returned to Mexico, where he organized what is today "El Colegio de México" and dedicated himself to writing and teaching.

The great Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges paid homage to the excellence of Reyes's style with the following words: "Alfonso Reyes, the greatest prose writer in the Spanish language of any age, said to me: 'Groussac taught me how to write in Spanish.' " Selected works by Alfonso Reyes

Poetry:

"Huellas" "Ifigenia Cruel" "Yerbas del Tarahumara" "Minuta" "Homero en Cuernavaca"

Nonfiction:

"Cuestiones Estéticas" "El Suicida" "Visión de Anáhuac" "Vísperas de España" "Cartones de Madrid" "Simpatías y Diferencias" "Calendario" "Homília por la Cultura" "Capítulos de Literatura Española" "Pasado Inmediato" "Estudios Helénicos" "La Filosofía Helenística" "La X en la Frente" "Memorias de Cocina y Bodega" "Las Burlas Veras"

Fiction:

"Los Tres Tesoros" "El Plano Oblicuo" "Árbol de Pólvora" "Quince Presencias"

The "Fondo de Cultura Económica" published his complete works in 26 volumes, titled "Obras Completas de Alfonso Reyes".

The "Premio Internacional Alfonso Reyes" (Alfonso Reyes International Prize) is a Mexican award given for contributions to the world of literature, named in honour of Alfonso Reyes, the prize is awarded by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA), the National Fine Arts Institute (INBA), the Sociedad Alfonsina Internacional, the Nuevo León state government, and the publishing houses Siglo XXI and Ediciones Castillo. It was created in 1972, with the first award made in 1973.

Recipients

1973: Jorge Luis Borges 1974: Marcel Bataillon 1975: Alejo Carpentier 1976: André Malraux 1977: Jorge Guillén 1978: James W. Robb 1979: Carlos Fuentes 1980: Ernesto Mejía Sánchez 1981: Jacques Soustelle 1982: José Luis Martínez 1983: Paulette Patout 1984: Rubén Bonifaz Nuño 1985: Octavio Paz 1986: Alí Chumacero 1987: Gutierre Tibón 1988: Ramón Xirau 1989: Laurette Séjourné 1990: Adolfo Bioy Casares 1991: Andrés Henestrosa 1992: Arnaldo Orfila Reynal 1993: Joaquín Díez-Canedo 1994: Germán Arciniegas 1995: Juan José Arreola 2000: Arturo Uslar Pietri 2001: Miguel León-Portilla 2002: Rafael Gutiérrez Girardot 2003: Harold Bloom 2005: José Emilio Pacheco