NEW YORK(SMI-WIRE,11.13.17)The J. Paul Getty Trust, held its annual J. Paul Medal Award dinner gala today, honoring Mario Vargas Llosa (2010 Noble Prize winner in Literature) and  Anselm Kiefer(Renowned German's Painter & Sculptor) for their extraordinary contributions to the practice, understanding and support of the arts at The Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan, NYC.

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Since it was established in 2013 by the trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust, the medal has been awarded to six individuals to honor their extraordinary contributions to the practice, understanding and support of the arts. 

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Mario Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa, is a Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, college professor and recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature.Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin-American Boom.

His books have been translated into more than 40 languages. “Mario Vargas Llosa shares with the Getty an unshakeable commitment to the moral and intellectual value of the arts,” said James Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

“He is the epitome of an engaged, public intellectual, who believes that writers should write with the conviction that by writing, they can help others become more free, sensitive and lucid.”

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Mario Vargas Llosa was born in Arequipa, and also spent parts of his youth in Cochabamba (Bolivia), Piura in northern Peru and Lima.

He made his debut as a novelist with The Time of the Hero (1962), set in Leoncio Prado military Academy, where he had been a student. The book received an immediate international recognition. His many other works include the novels Conversation in The Cathedral, The Green House, The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta, Who Killed Palomino Molero?,

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The Storyteller, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, The Feast of the Goat, The Bad Girl, The Dream of the Celt, The Discreet Hero and the theatre plays La Chunga, Kathie and the Hippopotamus, The Young Lady from Tacna, among others.

He has also published several books of essays. He writes for El País (Piedra de Toque), and the cultural magazine Letras Libres (Extemporáneos) published in Mexico and in Spain. His books have been translated into more than forty languages.

Mario Vargas Llosa has also been an outspoken participant in the world of politics, as a prolific essayist and candidate for elected office. In 2010 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat."

 

Vargas Llosa acquired Spanish citizenship in 1993, though he still holds Peruvian nationality. The writer often reiterates his love for both countries. In his Nobel speech he observed: "I carry Peru deep inside me because that is where I was born, grew up, was formed, and lived those experiences of childhood and youth that shaped my personality and forged my calling". He then added: "I love Spain as much as Peru, and my debt to her is as great as my gratitude. If not for Spain, I never would have reached this podium or become a known writer".On 4 February 2011, Vargas Llosa was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the hereditary title of Marques de Vargas.

He has received a long list of prestigious literary awards, including The Leopoldo Alas Prize (1959), the Rómulo Gallegos Prize (1967), the National Critics' Prize (1967), the Critics' Annual Prize for Theatre (1981), the Prince of Asturias Prize (1986), the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (1994) -- the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor, the Jerusalem Prize (1995), the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1996), the PEN/Nabokov Award (2002), the Nobel Prize (2010) and numerous Doctor Honoris Causa degrees from prestigious universities.