José Luis González (writer)

For other people named José González, see José González (disambiguation).
José Luis González
Born March 8, 1926
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Died December 8, 1996(1996-12-08) (aged 70)
Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation Short-story writer, novelist, essayist
Nationality Puerto Rican
Notable works Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country

José Luis González (March 8, 1926 – December 8, 1996) was a Puerto Rican essayist, novelist, short story writer, university professor, and journalist who lived most of his life in exile in Mexico due to his pro-independence political views.[1] He is considered to be one of the most important Puerto Rican authors of the 20th century, particularly for his book Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country and Other Essays, which was first published in Spanish in 1980.[2][3]

Biography

José Luis González was born in the Dominican Republic, the son of a Puerto Rican father and Dominican mother. His family left the country and moved to Puerto Rico after the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo assumed power in 1930.[4] González was raised in Puerto Rico and went on to obtain a Bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. He also studied in the United States, and received a Master's degree and Doctorate in Philosophy and Letters at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. A renown Marxist,[4] González always considered himself to be a Puerto Rican, but lived in Mexico from 1953 until his death in 1996 and obtained Mexican citizenship in 1955, renouncing his American citizenship to do so.[1] He lectured at the UNAM on Latin American literature and on the sociology of literature. He also worked as a newspaper correspondent in Prague, Berlin, Paris and Warsaw during his lifetime.

Awards

José Luis González was awarded the Xavier Villaurrutia award in 1978 for his novel Ballad of Another Time, and also received two national awards in Puerto Rico.[5]

Works

Fiction

Essays and Memoirs

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "González, José Luis." Ronald Fernández, Serafín Méndez Méndez, and Gail Cueto. Puerto Rico Past and Present: An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998. 154–155.
  2. ↑ González, José Luis. Puerto Rico: The Four-Storeyed Country and Other Essays. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishing, 1993. ISBN 1-55876-072-5
  3. ↑ Irizarry, Guillermo B. José Luis González : el intelectual nómada. San Juan, P.R.: Ediciones Callejón, 2006. ISBN 1881748413.
  4. 1 2 "Jose Luis González." Biografiasyvidas.com, accessed June 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ González, José Luis. Ballad of Another Time. Trans. by Asa Zatz. Tulsa, Okla.: Council Oak Books/Hecate, with the University of Tulsa, 1987. ISBN 0-933031-10-6
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