MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina looses a master of literature, human rights and common sense

The photo travelled the world: in September 1984 Sabato presents to President Alfonsin the report on the crimes of the military Junta.

Argentine writer and human rights militant Ernesto Sabato died at his home on Saturday morning at the age of 99. He has been suffering from bronchitis. A physicist by training he became famous because of his writing; however he had not produced any works for quite some time.

He is also well-known for his work at the front of CONADEP, the National Commission for Disappeared Persons after the Argentine Military Dictatorship 1976/1983.

Amongst the most influential writers in Argentine literature and author of the trilogy of novels, “The Tunnel” (1948), “Of Heroes and Graves'' (1961) and ''Abadon, the Exterminator'' (1974), it could be said he was a controversial human being tied up by his own contradictions which can be suggested to be present in characters he created in his stories.

British newspaper 'The Independent', recently re-reviewed his book, “The Tunnel”, and said “the book belongs among the existential landmarks of post-war fiction.” It was also honoured by being placed in the Penguin Publishers Hall of Fame.

“I’ve never considered myself a professional writer, in the way that of those who publish one book per year. To the contrary actually, many times I’d go ahead and burn what I had written that very morning,” mentioned Sabato on more than one occasion.

His final pieces of writing include memories and things about old age, which constitute his last works and farewell to writing, aside from the vital spark of the moving confession of love he had for collaborator Elvira Fernández Fraga, who today fronts the foundation in his name.

This weekend homage was to be paid to him at the Argentine National Book Fair for his contribution to the country’s literature, and to celebrate his 100th birthday on June 24, where an exposition on his works and life were to be shown, with María Rosa Lojo hosting the event and members of his family present.

Ernesto Sabato came from a Calabrian roots and was born on June 24 in 1911. He was the tenth child out of eleven to be born into his family. His mother Juana María Ferrari and his father Francisco Sábato lived together with all of their children in Rojas, in the province of Buenos Aires.

Days before he was born, on the June 24 in 1911, a brother of his who was two years-old, also named Ernesto, died – an occurrence which marked the man who became such an influential writer, for the rest of his life.

After spending his infancy in Rojas he eventually moved to La Plata to go to secondary school before moving onto university. He enrolled in the Science Physics and Maths Faculty at the National University of La Plata in 1929.

During his time at university he explored different political spectrums, and when he gained an insight into communism he began to have doubts about the politics of Stalin’s regime. From there he decided to go to study at the Lenin schools in Moscow for two years, which he described as, “a place where you would be cured, or end up in a psychiatric hospital.”

He returned to Buenos Aires in 1936 and married Matilde Kusminsky Richter, to then obtain his Doctorate in Physics from the National University of La Plata in 1938. Sabato was then granted time in Paris to do research on atomic radiation. His first child Jorge Federico was born later that year. While he lived in Paris he came across a surrealist movement.

After a period in the US he returned to Argentina and in 1941 began to publish literary works in the form of short articles for magazines, and in 1945 he published his first book, Uno y el Universo.

The years between the publishing of “The Tunnel” (1948), “Of Heroes and Graves'' (1961) and ''Abadon, the Exterminator'' (1974), were hugely important for Sabato as a writer. Films were made from his works, and he also became a highly regarded author across the globe.

For example in 1976 Sabato won an award for “Best Foreign Book” in Paris for ''Abadon, the Exterminator''. He also won the Jerusalem Prize for writings and activities that “express the freedom of the individual in society” in 1989.

Alongside then-president Raúl Alfonsín, Sabato was appointed head of the CONADEP through 1983-1984. This investigation resulted in the writing of the book, “Never Again” (Nunca Más), which opened many trials for those who were disappeared during the dictatorship.

On 20 September 1984 he made the official presentation of the CONADEP report to then President Alfonsin. That same year he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the highest and most respected honour of the Spanish language.

Sabato’s main message concentrated on young people saying, “only those who are capable of becoming that utopia – will be prepared to be decisive and fight, to recuperate the human beings we’ve lost”.

World press reacted immediately to the news of Ernesto Sábato's death, evoking the response that he had surpassed the world of literature to gain a more iconic status on the return to democracy in Argentina.

Published in Spanish newspaper “El País”, they mentioned that he was the “last classic writer in Argentine literature,” while Spain’s newspaper “El Mundo” titled him as, “the last survivor of Argentine writers with a capital letter.”

Among Latin American newspapers, the Brazilian Folha stated that one of the main representatives of Argentine literature was “nearly blind and remained secluded in Santos Lugares city.”

Also Uruguay’s “El País” mentioned the death of the Argentine writer and described Sábato as the “prize-winning” writer that, according to his own statements, “’went down to hell’ to investigate the crimes committed during the Dirty War.”
Mexican newspaper “El Universal” stated in its website that the country’s Culture and Arts National Committee (Conaculta) expressed its “condolences over the death of Ernesto Sábato.