Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an outstanding Colombian prose writer and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. Many know him as a writer, but during his lifetime he was a versatile and active person who was engaged not only in literature.
Biography
The full name of the writer is Gabriel José de la Concordia "Gabo" Garcia Marquez, in which the name Garcia is taken from his father, and Marquez from his mother. He was born in 1927 in Colombia. He received education from his grandparents through his mother. At 9 years old, after the death of his grandfather, Gabriel moved to his parents.
Garcia Marquez begins to study law at Columbia University. There he meets a Mercedes Barcha Pardo, his future wife. Despite the chosen specialty, he is already starting to make his first attempts in the direction of journalism. In the first year of university studies, he publishes his first story in the newspaper Observer. In the 50th year, Garcia Marquez decides to leave the university and devotes himself to creativity. In 1982, he became the first Colombian writer to receive a Nobel Prize in literature.
The greatest prose writer of the 20th century actively participated in the political life of his country. In 1974, he opened the newspaper Alternative, whose activities were directed against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. At the request of the head of Mexico, he repeatedly became a mediator in the negotiations of US President Bill Clinton and Castro. And in 2006, he advocated the complete independence of the island of Puerto Rico.
Deadly disease
In 1989, Gabriel García Márquez was diagnosed with a serious illness - lung cancer, which may have been the result of excessive cigarette addiction. In 1992, doctors successfully removed the tumor, and the disease temporarily receded. But in 1999, the writer received another terrible diagnosis - lymphoma. The result was several difficult operations and long therapy.
In 2012, the brother of the famous prose writer, Chaim, announced in an interview for the BBC that the writer is experiencing mental problems and, therefore, can no longer engage in creative activities.
An outstanding Colombian died in 2014 in Mexico City. Until the last days of his life, his wife and children, Gonzalo and Rodrigo, were with him.
