The writer’s wake is being held at the family home, where Peruvian President Dina Boluarte traveled.
EFE (via 14ymedi0), Paris/Lima/Montevideo/Santiago de Chile/ 14 April 2025 — French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute this Monday to Mario Vargas Llosa, who died in Lima this Sunday, and highlighted both the Nobel Prize winner’s membership in the French Academy and the value of his work, “which stood for freedom over fanaticism.”
“Mario Vargas Llosa belonged to France, through the Academy, through his love of our literature and through the universal,” the French president stated on the social network X, where he accompanied his messages, written in French and Spanish, with a photo of the author of La ciudad y los perros dressed in the traditional green livery of the members of the French Academy.
Macron emphasized that, with his work, Vargas Llosa “stood for freedom over fanaticism, irony over dogma, an ironclad ideal in the face of the storms of the century.”
“He leaves behind a monumental and immortal work,” praised French Culture Minister Rachida Dati.
“A tribute to a literary genius who had a home here,” the French president concluded.
In recognition of his ties to France, Vargas Llosa has occupied the 18th seat of the Académie française since February 2023. This prestigious institution, founded in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, oversees the French language and its members are known as “the immortals.”
“The Perpetual Secretary and the members of the French Academy are saddened to announce the passing of their colleague, Mario Vargas Llosa, which occurred on April 13, 2025, in Lima (Peru). He was 89 years old. He was elected on November 25, 2021, to occupy the seat of Michel Serres (18th seat),” the institution, located on the Seine River, said in a statement Monday, announcing the death
Vargas Llosa’s election to seat 18 was not without controversy, as although he spent periods of his life in France, he did not write in the language of Molière, something unprecedented for the institution until that time.
“He leaves behind a monumental and immortal work,” praised French Culture Minister Rachida Dati, also on X. The minister also highlighted that Paris left its mark on Vargas Llosa and that “with paradoxical commitments that may have been disconcerting,” he was a “dissident author and a witness of his time.”
Boluarte, dressed entirely in black, entered the house with Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén.
Peruvian President Dina Boluarte arrived at the writer’s family home in Lima on Monday, accompanied by several of her ministers.
Boluarte, dressed entirely in black, entered the residence with Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén, Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer, and other government representatives.
At the entrance to the building in Lima’s Barranco district, she was greeted by essayist Álvaro Vargas Llosa, the eldest son of the Nobel Prize winner in literature, with whom she shared a warm hug before entering.
Shortly before, Álvaro Vargas Llosa had confirmed that his father is being held in the privacy of his home and that no public ceremony will be held in his honor.
“We’ve agreed to try to grieve privately, so we’re holding a wake for my father at home, rather than in a public place,” he said.
“I have nothing else to say but that Peru has lost one of its best men, and we have lost an infinitely loved person.”
For this reason, he asked the media “to respect that privacy,” which implies that they will “avoid making any further statements” beyond those offered this Monday, out of respect for the media, “the public, and the people who have sent their messages of affection and love.”
“I have nothing else to say but that Peru has lost one of its best men, and we have lost a deeply loved person whom we will miss,” said Álvaro Vargas Llosa at the entrance to the building where his father lived.
He added that they “are comforted not only by the extraordinary father he was, but also by the beautiful legacy he left to Peru and the world.”
He explained that they have received messages of affection and condolences from all over Latin America, the United States, Asia, and Europe, from individuals as well as institutions, organizations, and governments.
“I cannot mention them all because there are too many, but I would like to express the enormous gratitude of my entire family, my mother, Patricia, (my siblings) Gonzalo, Morgana, and my own gratitude,” he concluded.
Shortly before, Prime Minister Adrianzén confirmed on RPP radio that no official posthumous ceremonies will be held in honor of the writer, in compliance with his wishes and those of his family.
“Then comes the Cuban Revolution, the big explosion, the big dream, and then the disappointment.”
He also reported that Boluarte contacted Vargas Llosa’s family after learning of his death and coordinated with them the details of the decree declaring national mourning.
“From the Government, we are simply respecting, first, what was the will of Mario Vargas Llosa himself, and second, this coordination with the family took place yesterday, hence the decree and the provisions that have been issued. But we respect the decision of Vargas Llosa and his family absolutely,” he emphasized.
Former Uruguayan President Julio María Sanguinetti was one of those who spoke out after the writer’s death, describing him as an “enormous creator” and a “citizen of Latin America,” as well as a “fighter for freedom.”
Sanguinetti, who maintained a close friendship with Vargas Llosa, emphasized his position on freedom, “because he comes from a socialist background, which was very common in the era of intellectualism in the 1950s and 1960s. Then came the Cuban Revolution, the big explosion, the great dream, and then the disappointment.”
In turn, he stressed that what will remain of Vargas Llosa will be his letters captured in novels such as Conversation in the Cathedral, The Green House, The City and the Dogs and others, in his opinion, that have been little mentioned, such as Pantaleón and the Visitors, which he described as “brilliant.”
“That’s what will remain in the constellation of artists who are making our golden age right now,” he noted.
“He was also a first-class intellectual, and regardless of whether one agrees with his liberal ideals or not, he was a democrat at all times who deserves our full respect.”
Sanguinetti emphasized that, after years of friendship with the Peruvian Nobel Prize winner for Literature, he sees him as a typical intellectual who had the socialist dream and then realized it had turned into a nightmare and turned to the great Western liberal philosophy of 18th-century thinkers.
“What no one can deny is that he is not only a huge literary figure and a huge creator, but more so a citizen of Latin America, a citizen of culture, of our culture, of our language, of Western culture, with a great independence of judgment,” he noted.
For his part, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, another of those who mourned the death of the Peruvian Nobel Prize winner, emphasized that “he was a giant writer, who described Latin America with a pen of real anguish in a delicate and challenging fiction.”
“He was also a first-class intellectual, and regardless of whether or not you agree with his liberal ideals, he was a true democrat who deserves our full respect,” the Chilean president posted on his social media.
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