Birth of Miguel Ángel Asturias

Miguel Ángel Asturias was born on 19 October 1899 in Guatemala City. A Guatemalan writer and diplomat, Asturias combined indigenous myth with social criticism in his novels, and was a pioneer of magical realism. His best-known works are Legends of Guatemala, which draws on Mayan tradition, The President, a portrait of a dictator, and Men of Maize. His banana trilogy was a condemnation of the exploitation by foreign fruit companies. A supporter of the revolution of 1944, he served in diplomatic posts, and lived in exile after the 1954 coup. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1966 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967.

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