Miguel Ãngel Asturias

In 1939, Asturias married Clemencia Amado and the couple were blessed with two sons Miguel and Rodrigo.

However, their marriage didn’t last too long and the couple separated in the year 1947.

In 1950, Miguel married a woman named Blanca Mora y Araujo and later, he even dedicated the novel named ‘Week-end en Guatemala’ to this new woman in his life.

Miguel was born to Ernesto Asturias Girón and María Rosales de Asturias on 19th October 1899, in Guatemala City. His father was an advocate, while his mother was a teacher. The couple even had a younger son named Marco Antonio.

At that time, Guatemala was under the dictatorial rule of the leader Manuel Estrada Cabrera. As his father did not support the dictator and did not work in accordance with Cabrera, Miguel’s family had to move out of Guatemala and reside in Salamá town, located in Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, in the year 1905.

He spent a few years in his grandparents’ house, where he was introduced to the world of myth and legends, as well as the ‘Mayan Culture’. These themes occupied a place in Asturias’ writings later in his life. However, after a few years, his family moved back to Guatemala City.

After completing his high school education, he joined the ‘University of San Carlos’, where he pursued his graduation in Law. Here he co-founded the ‘Popular University’, which was intended to provide free education to the poor who could not afford to join the prestigious national university.

In 1923, he wrote his thesis named ‘The Social Problem of the Indian’, and then travelled to England to pursue studies in political economy. However, he spent only a few months in London and then moved to Paris.

In 1925, he took the task of translating into Spanish the ‘Popol Vuh’ which was a holy script of the Mayan culture, and this introduced him to the culture.

One of his most significant works ‘Leyendas de Guatemala’ was written in the year 1930, and spoke about the Mayan culture before the Spanish conquest of the sixteenth century.

He went back to Guatemala in the year 1933, when the country was ruled by the authoritarian ruler Jorge Ubico. There Miguel initiated a radio magazine by the name ‘El diario del aire’, and even edited the content of the same.

During this time, he earned his living by working as a journalist and also composed numerous poems such as the ‘Sonetos’ (Sonnets), which appeared in the year 1936.

In 1942, he became a legislator of the ‘Congress of Guatemala’ and thus, his political career started.

During 1923-33, Asturias authored his novel ‘El señor presidente’ (The President), which talked of an anonymous dictator who ruled in some region of Central America. This novel discusses the oppression and exploitation which the people had to suffer during the tenure of this authoritarian.

However, because of its content, the novel could not be published during the dictatorial regime and was published finally published after the authoritarian regime in Guatemala ended. This novel was highly acclaimed by readers and critics.

‘Hombres de maíz’ (Men of Maize), for which this author was awarded the ‘Nobel Prize’ is regarded by many as one of the greatest literary pieces. Its theme revolves around the strong belief of the Mayan culture, that human flesh is constructed with corn.