Labyrinth of Solitude

Octavio Paz was born in Mexico City in 1914 to a family of Spanish and native Mexican descent. He was the author of more than twenty-five books of poetry and prose. In addition to being a poet, essayist, playwright, social philosopher, and critic, he also served as a Mexican diplomat in France and Japan, and as ambassador to India. He was awarded the Cervantes Award in 1981, the Neustadt Prize in 1982, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1990. Octavio Paz died in 1998.