Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez was widely considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. Following his death in April 2014 at 87, former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos called him the greatest Colombian ever.
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez was a famous Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist. He was affectionately known as ‘Gabo’.
Furthermore, Gabriel was one of the best authors in the Spanish language and a significant author of the 20th century.
Meanwhile, he was mainly known for being a prominent author in the 20th century, mainly in Spanish. Due to his work, Marquez was honored with various awards.
In 1972, he earned the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and he was also the winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. Everyone loved him, and he was the most translated Spanish-language author.
Gabriel García Márquez Early Life: All About His Family Background
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez was born on March 6, 1927 in Aracataca, Colombia. Marquez was the eldest of 11 children. His parents were Gabriel Eligio García and Luisa Santiaga Márquez Iguarán.
Soon after his birth, Gabriel’s father became a pharmacist and moved with his wife to Barranquilla. Marquez was very young at that time, so he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Colonel Nicolás Ricardo Márquez Mejía and Tranquilina Iguarán Cotes, in Aracataca.
In December 1936, their father took Gabriel and his brother to Sincé. The following year, his grandfather died, and the family returned to Barranquilla, where they later moved to Sucre.
Reportedly, Gabriel’s parents had a romantic and somewhat rough love story that would later inspire his novel Love in the Time of Cholera. Regarding his educational background, Marquez left for Aracataca to study at a boarding school in Barranquilla, where he started writing short poems and stories.
He later attended the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, where he initially studied law but eventually turned to journalism and writing full-time.
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Gabriel Garcia Marquez Career Overview
Although he studied law, Gabriel García Márquez became a journalist, the trade at which he received his living before achieving literary fame. As a correspondent in Paris during the 1950s, Márquez expanded his education, reading a great value of American literature, some of it in French translation.
As mentioned earlier, he was known for his excellent writing. Before 1967, he published two novels, La Hojarasca and La Mala Hora. Later, he wrote One Hundred Years of Solitude, in which Gabriel told the story of Macondo.
During that time, he was also introduced to the works of various writers, including Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. From 1954 to 1955, Márquez lived in Bogotá, where he regularly contributed articles to the newspaper El Espectador.
Furthermore, he was also interested in politics and was known for his leftist learnings and his strong opposition to imperialism, authoritarianism, and social injustice.
Gabriel was also one of the founders of QAP, a Colombian newscast produced by the programadora TV13 that aired on Canal A between January 2, 1992, and December 31, 1997.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez And Wife Mercedes Barcha Marriage: Meet Their Three Children
Marquez and his wife, Mercedes Barcha, remained married for a long time. The couple met at school when Gabriel was 12 and Mercedes was 9. When Gabriel was sent to Europe as a foreign correspondent, Barcha patiently awaited his return to Barranquilla.
The two married in 1958, and on the wedding day, Barcha waited to put on her wedding dress until he had driven up. Since then, his wife has played an essential role in Gabriel’s personal and professional life.
She even served as her husband’s crisis manager and chief of staff. The couple also had homes in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Barcelona, and Paris.
They remained married until Gabriel died in 2014. After a long marriage, Gabriel and Mercedes welcomed three children: Indira Cato, Rodrigo García, and Gonzalo García Barcha.
Their first child, Rodrigo, was born on August 24, 1959. He is a prominent film director, screenwriter, author, and former cinematographer whose credits include Nine Lives, Albert Nobbs, and Last Days in the Desert.
Gabriel and his wife welcomed their second child, Gonzalo, in 1964 and their third child, Indira, in 1994. Meanwhile, Mercedes had some health issues and dealt with respiratory problems for many years.
On August 15, 2020, Mercedes passed away at 87. Rodrigo shared the news, saying that his mom passed away at her home in Mexico City.
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Gabriel Garcia Marquez Passed Away in 2014 – What Was His Death Cause?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez died on April 17, 2014, in Mexico City at 87. Initially, his death cause was not confirmed, but it was revealed that it was linked to pneumonia.
In the years leading up to his death, García had been battling health issues, including lymphatic cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1999. Although he had undergone successful cancer treatment, his health continued to decline in his later years.
In March 2014, just a month before his death, Marquez was hospitalized with a lung and urinary tract infection, which eventually developed into pneumonia. Despite medical treatment, his condition worsened, and he succumbed to the illness at his home in Mexico City, surrounded by his family.
Many people, including former US President Obama, paid tribute to the late soul. Obama said, “The world had lost one of its greatest visionary writers – and one of my favorites from when I was young.”
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