Carlos Fuentes

He married Mexican actress Rita Macedo in 1959. The couple divorced in 1973. They had one daughter.

He married Silvia Lemus, a television journalist, in 1976. The marriage lasted until his death. They had two children, both of whom predeceased their father.

He died in Mexico from a massive hemorrhage in 2012 at the age of 83.

Carlos Fuentes was born in Panama City to Berta Macias and Rafael Fuentes, a Mexican Diplomat. Because of his father’s job, the family moved a lot and young Carlos spent his childhood in various Latin American cities.

He attended English language schools in Washington, D.C., and became fluent in the language. During his summer vacations, he returned to Mexico and attended Mexican schools.

As a child he learnt about Mexican history and folklore from his Mexican grandmothers and imbibed American culture while in Washington. He also became aware of international politics through discussions with his diplomat father.

He also spent time in various South American countries like Chile and Argentina where he learnt about the differences as well as the similarities among the cultures of the Latin nations.

He was an enthusiastic reader with an interest in poetry and socialism. From an early age he was interested in pursuing a career in writing, but his parents wanted him to enter the legal profession.

Fuentes entered the diplomatic service in 1950 and served as a member of the Mexican delegation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva till 1952.

He served in the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico as assistant chief of press section in 1954. He was appointed secretary and assistant director of cultural dissemination in the National University of Mexico for the session 1955-56.

He served as the Mexican ambassador to France (1975–77). He resigned in protest against former President Gustavo D�az Ordaz's appointment as ambassador to Spain.

He taught in many colleges and universities like Cambridge University, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of California, etc. in the 1970’s and 80’s.

His first novel ‘Where the Air is clear’, published in 1958 became an instant success. The novel was widely appreciated for its "stark portrait of inequality and moral corruption in modern Mexico".

His 1962 novel ‘The Death of Artemio Cruz’ is considered to be a landmark in the literary movement known as the Latin American Boom. The novel traces the life of a corrupt man who is dying. This book is "widely regarded as a seminal work of modern Spanish American literature"

Fuentes’s novel ‘Terra Nostra’, published in 1975 is considered to be his most ambitious work. The title literally means ‘Our Earth’, and the book tells the story of Hispanic civilizations and examines the origins of the contemporary Latin American society.

The novel ‘The Old Gringo’ (1985) was the first novel by a Mexican author to become a U.S bestseller in its English translation version. The novel was written over a period of 20 years and deals with themes like death, culture, and Mexican identity.