Osvaldo Soriano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1943-01-06)January 6, 1943 |
| Died | January 29, 1997(1997-01-29) (aged 54) |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist and writer |
| Spouse | Catherine |
| Children | Manuel Soriano |
Osvaldo Soriano (January 6, 1943 – January 29, 1997) was anArgentine journalist and writer.[1]
Soriano was born inMar del Plata, Argentina. He became a staff writer atLa Opinión right from the start in 1971 when editorJacobo Timerman founded the newspaper.La Opinión was permeated with progressive politics, and soon there was an attempt to squash the left-wing influence within the paper.[2] After six months of not having any of his articles published, Soriano began writing a story in which a character namedOsvaldo Soriano reconstructs the life of English actorStan Laurel.[3]
The work became his first novel,Triste, solitario y final (Sad, lonely and final), a melancholic parody set in Los Angeles with the famed fictionalPhilip Marlowe detective as his joint investigator. It was some months after the publication of his novel that he visited the American city, and actually stood by the grave of Stan Laurel, leaving there a copy of his book. This book set the tone for many of his other works: the use of true facts as the background of his stories, the contradictory and tortured nature of the main characters, progressive politics as key element of the stories.[4]
Shortly after theProceso de Reorganización Nacionalcoup d'état in Argentina in 1976, he was compelled to move tout of fear for his physical safety first toBrussels, (where he met his wife Catherine), and then to Paris, where he lived in exile until 1984. While in France he befriendedJulio Cortázar, with whom he founded the short-lived experience of the monthly magazineSin censura. After the fall of the military junta, he returned toBuenos Aires, and the publication of his books were met with large success, not only in South America but also in Italy and several other countries where his works begun to be translated and published.
In his books, Soriano succeeded in mixing his experiences as a democratic activist and as a strong critic of the violence wielded by reactionary governments with extraordinary humor. A lover of bothfútbol (soccer) andcinematography, he often honored both in his work. Soriano was a knownSan Lorenzo fan, sharing that affiliation with fellow Argentine Pope Francis.
After his death inBuenos Aires in 1997 due to a lung cancer, he was buried in theLa Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. His work has since been translated into at least fifteen different languages, and has inspired film directors and producers on fiction and documentary works based on his novels and life experience.
