Marcos Aguinis

Marcos Aguinis

Marcos Aguinis (born 13 January 1935) is an Argentine psychiatrist, writer and columnist.

Background

Marcos Aguinis was born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1935 the son of a Romanian Jewish immigrant.^[1] Aguinis relocated to Spain in the 1960s, where he was awarded the Planeta Award, returned to Argentina in 1981, and when democracy was reinstated in Argentina in December 1983, Aguinis received a doctorate in psychiatry from the National University of Córdoba, was designated by President Raúl Alfonsín Undersecretary of Culture to playwright Carlos Gorostiza and, upon the latter's resignation in 1987, became Secretary of Culture; in this capacity, he sponsored the renowned "cultural renaissance" that flourished in the country at the time. He created the National Program for Democratization of Culture (PRONDEC), sponsored by UNESCO and the United Nations. Aguinis promoted intense action towards participation activities aimed at raising individual awareness of the rights, duties and potentialities that a true democracy supports. His life's work was recognized with a nomination for UNESCO Education for Peace Award.

Aguinis is an author with international training in medicine, psychoanalysis, the arts, literature, and history. He writes: "Not only have I traveled the world, but I also journeyed through different professions." He published his first book in 1963, and since then he has written eight novels, ten essay collections, four short story collections, and two biographies, which have generated enthusiasm and controversy.

All his recent books have become best-sellers. Aguinis has thousands of fans who recommend, discuss, and collect his books. He has written articles on a wide variety of topics for Latin American, U.S. and European newspapers and magazines. Marcos Aguinis has given hundreds of lectures and seminars at educational, artistic, scientific and political organizations in Germany, Spain, the U.S., Israel, Russia, Italy and practically every Latin American country.

In the field of human rights, he risked his life by courageously addressing controversial issues. During the last dictatorship, the government rectricted circulation of his books, but some of them were successfully smuggled. Many of his readers admire his prophetic vision of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the internal struggles within the Catholic Church, the authoritarian political trends, and the resurgence of ethnic and religious fundamentalism.

Aguinis has been awarded the Planeta Award (Spain) in 1970, an Honorable Commendation from the Association of Argentine Authors, the Reforma Universitaria Award (La Plata University), the Fernando Jeno Award (México), the Distinguished Cultural Award (Academy of Arts and Communication Sciences, Argentina), the National Sociology Award, the Lobo de Mar Award, the Swami Pranavananda Award, the Annual Silver Plaque of the EFE Agency , awarded for his contribution to the consolidation of the Iberoamerican language and culture; in France, he was given the title of Knight of Letters and Arts. He received the Argentine Association of Authors Great Honorable Award for his life's work in 1995, as well as Honorary Doctorate degrees from the National University of San Luis, Argentina (2000) and Tel Aviv University (2002).

Awards

Marcos Aguinis was awarded with several major prizes such as the Planeta Award, the Award of the Argentine Society of Writers, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France and the Juan Bautista Alberdi Award 2007 presented by the Hispanic American Center for Economic Research (HACER) of Washington DC.

Full bibliography

Short stories

• Operativo Siesta (1977)
• Y la rama llena de frutos (1986)
• Importancia por contacto (1986)
• Todos los cuentos (1995)

Biographies

• Maimónides (1963)
• El Combate Perpetuo (1971)

Novels

• Refugiados: Crónica de un palestino (1969)
• La Cruz Invertida (1970)
• Cantata de los diablos (1972)
• La conspiración de los idiotas (1978)
• Profanación del amor (1978)
• La Gesta del Marrano (1991)
• La Matriz del Infierno (1997)
• Los Iluminados (2000)
• Asalto al Paraíso (2002)
• La Pasión según Carmela (2008)
• El Elogio del Placer, Buenos Aires, 2010 ISBN 978-850-00731874

Essays

• Carta Esperanzada a un General (1983)
• El Valor de Escribir (1985)
• Un país de Novela (1988)
• Memorias de una Siembra (1990)
• Elogio de la culpa (1993)
• Nueva Carta Esperanzada a un General (1996)
• Diálogos sobre la Argentina y el fin del Milenio (1996)
• Nuevos Diálogos (1998)
• El Atroz Encanto de Ser Argentinos (2001) (PDF Spanish)
• El Cochero (2001)
• Las Dudas y las Certezas (2001)
• Las Redes del Odio (2003)
• ¿Qué Hacer? (2005)
• El Atroz Encanto de Ser Argentinos 2 (2007)
• Pobre Patria Mía! (2009)

Books on Marcos Aguinis

• Ignacio López-Calvo. Religión y militarismo en la obra de Marcos Aguinis 1963-2000. New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2002
• La gesta literaria de Marcos Aguinis. Ensayos Críticos. Ed. Juana Alcira Arancibia. Costa Rica: Perro Azul, 1998.

References

1. ^ Raymond L. Williams (August 2007). The Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0231126883. 

External links

• Marcos Aguinis official site
• Articles written by Marcos Aguinis (Spanish)

Persondata
Name	Aguinis, Marcos
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	13 January 1935
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death