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Writer, former Guatemalan president Toledo, dead
Guatemala City, Sept 08: Mario Monteforte Toledo, novelist and former president of Guatemala, died of heart disease at the age of 92, his family said.
Guatemala City, Sept 08: Mario Monteforte Toledo, novelist and former president of Guatemala, died of heart disease at the age of 92, his family said.
The novelist, short story writer and playwright, considered one of Guatemala's leading literary lights, was president from 1948 to 1949 after serving as president of Congress.
The author was hospitalized on Sunday with cardiac problems and succumbed to them four days later, said one of his daughters, Regina de Toledo.
Born on Sept. 15, 1911, Monteforte Toledo was trained as an attorney and sociologist, but said he dreamed of becoming a writer since the day he learned how to read.
He began writing poems and essays at 12 and said he completed his first novel at 16, though that work was never published. Monteforte Toledo completed his first formal novel while living in Haiti in 1938, but it wasn't published in Guatemala until 10 years later.
In 1946, Monteforte Toledo was elected senator and chosen by his colleagues to head the one-house legislature during the government of leftist revolutionary Rafael Arevalo.
Arbenz's government was toppled by a CIA-backed coup in 1954 and Monteforte Toledo fled the country two years later. Living in exile in France, England, Ecuador, Mexico and the United States, he published other acclaimed novels, including La Cuva Sin Quietud, The Cave Without Clam, and a book of short stories known as Cuentos de Derrota y Esperanza, or Stories of Defeat and Hope. He also became a noted contemporary essayist and playwright. Upon finally returning to Guatemala in 1986, the author famously quipped "the thing that pains me most is all the women that I loved are old and in love with other men."
Monteforte Toledo remained energetic until the day he died and still rode horses belonging to his family two or three times a week long after turning 90, close friend and painter Ramon Burns said. Monteforte Toledo's remains were to be displayed in Congress, where legislators were planning to hold a special session in his honor Friday. Later, they were to be taken to a local cemetery for cremation.
Funeral arrangements had yet to be made, family members said.
Bureau Report
The novelist, short story writer and playwright, considered one of Guatemala's leading literary lights, was president from 1948 to 1949 after serving as president of Congress.
The author was hospitalized on Sunday with cardiac problems and succumbed to them four days later, said one of his daughters, Regina de Toledo.
Born on Sept. 15, 1911, Monteforte Toledo was trained as an attorney and sociologist, but said he dreamed of becoming a writer since the day he learned how to read.
He began writing poems and essays at 12 and said he completed his first novel at 16, though that work was never published. Monteforte Toledo completed his first formal novel while living in Haiti in 1938, but it wasn't published in Guatemala until 10 years later.
In 1946, Monteforte Toledo was elected senator and chosen by his colleagues to head the one-house legislature during the government of leftist revolutionary Rafael Arevalo.
Arbenz's government was toppled by a CIA-backed coup in 1954 and Monteforte Toledo fled the country two years later. Living in exile in France, England, Ecuador, Mexico and the United States, he published other acclaimed novels, including La Cuva Sin Quietud, The Cave Without Clam, and a book of short stories known as Cuentos de Derrota y Esperanza, or Stories of Defeat and Hope. He also became a noted contemporary essayist and playwright. Upon finally returning to Guatemala in 1986, the author famously quipped "the thing that pains me most is all the women that I loved are old and in love with other men."
Monteforte Toledo remained energetic until the day he died and still rode horses belonging to his family two or three times a week long after turning 90, close friend and painter Ramon Burns said. Monteforte Toledo's remains were to be displayed in Congress, where legislators were planning to hold a special session in his honor Friday. Later, they were to be taken to a local cemetery for cremation.
Funeral arrangements had yet to be made, family members said.
Bureau Report