Alejandro Aura
Encyclopedia
Alejandro Aura is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
; July 30, 2008) was a Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
writer, essayist, poet, playwright and actor, as well as a culture promoter and television host.
Biography
Alejandro Aura was born on March 2, 1944, to a family from the San Rafael borough of Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. His father Olimpo Aura Pineda was a mathematician, and his mother Ema Palacios Ordorica, whose grandfather Manuel Ordorica worked at the National Palace of Mexico with President Porfirio Diaz, was descendant of an aristochratic family. From a young age, Alejandro developed a passion for literature writing poetry, plays, essays, short fiction and fiction. He was also characterized by his political activism by participating actively in the student movement of 1968
Mexico 68
The Mexican Student Movement of 1968 was a student movement caused by an ideological clash between generations. Socialism and Capitalism also influenced the students and the government at that time. October 2 and the Silence March are the most important parts of the movement. Students from the IPN,...
.
Besides his literary activities, he was director of the Theater and Dance department of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
. In March, 1995, Aura created the national reading club "Aureolas" in his cultural bar "El hijo del cuervo'" in Coyoacán
Coyoacán
Coyoacán refers to one of the sixteen boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City as well as the former village which is now the borough’s “historic center.” The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means “place of coyotes,” when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore...
, where he presented several artistic, cultural and social activities between 1984 and 1999. In 1998, he created and directed the Institute of Culture of Mexico City (nowadays, Secretary of Culture) during Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
' term as Head of Government
Head of Government of the Federal District
The Head of Government wields executive power in the Mexican Federal District.The Head of Government serves a six-year term, running concurrently with that of the President of the Republic....
, until 2001. During his term, Aura promoted the use of public spaces for cultural activities and created reading clubs. He was director of the Institute of Culture of Mexico in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
from July, 2001, to December, 2003.
He got first married to Elsa Cross
Elsa Cross
Elsa Cross, , is a contemporary Spanish-language Mexican writer perhaps best known for her poetry. She has also published translations, philosophical essays and is known as an authority on Indian philosophy....
, with whom he had a daughter, Cecilia Aura Cross (1968-2007), then to Emma Ruiz and to actress Verónica Langer, with whom he had a son, Pablo Aura. He later got married to Carmen Boullosa
Carmen Boullosa
Carmen Boullosa is a leading Mexican poet, novelist and playwright. Her work is eclectic and difficult to categorize, but it generally focuses on the issues of feminism and gender roles within a Latin American context...
, with whom he had two children: María and Juan Aura. In Madrid, he met his last wife, Milagros Revenega, with whom he spent his last days. Alejandro Aura died on July 30, 2008 in Madrid.
He was awarded the Latin-American Award for Short Fiction in 1969 for Los baños de Celeste (Celeste's Baths), and the National Award for Poetry Aguascalientes in 1973 for Volver a casa (Coming Home).
Short fiction
- Los baños de Celeste (1969)
- La historia de Nápoles (1988)
- La hora íntima de Agustín Lara (1993)
- El otro lado (1993)
Poetry
- Cinco veces la flor, in Poesía Joven de México (1967)
- Alianza para vivir (1969)
- Varios desnudos y dos docenas de naturalezas muertas (1971)
- Volver a casa (1974)
- Tambor interno (1975)
- Hemisferio sur (1982)
- La patria vieja (1986)
- Cinco veces (1989)
- Poeta en la mañana (1991)
Drama
- Los exaltados (1974)
- Las visitas (1979)
- Salón calavera (1982)
- Xe bubulú (1984), in collaboration with Carmen BoullosaCarmen BoullosaCarmen Boullosa is a leading Mexican poet, novelist and playwright. Her work is eclectic and difficult to categorize, but it generally focuses on the issues of feminism and gender roles within a Latin American context...
. - Salón calavera, Las visitas and Bang (1987)