Mario Vargas Llosa
Literary Giant Walked the Halls of a Salesian
School
by David Franco Cordova
Historian of the Salesian Congregation of Peru
A Salesian Student
In the summer of 1946, just before turning 10,
Mario Vargas Llosa moved with his mother to Piura, where his maternal
grandfather, Pedro Llosa, served as the department’s prefect. At the time, José
Luis Bustamante y Rivero—his grandfather’s cousin—was President of Peru (he
would later be overthrown in 1948 by General Manuel A. Odria, whose regime
inspired Vargas Llosa’s celebrated novel Conversation in the Cathedral).
It was his grandfather Pedro who enrolled
Mario in the Salesian school of Piura that year. Given his prominent position,
his decision highlights the significance of the Salesians in the region during
the mid-20th century.
Vargas Llosa recalled this moment in his
memoir A Fish in the Water: “Grandpa welcomed us at the Talara
airport and handed me a postcard with the front of the Salesian school of
Piura, where he had already enrolled me in the fifth grade” (Barcelona:
Seix Barral, 1993, p. 23).
A colored postcard of the school’s
facade—likely similar to the one young Mario received—is preserved in the
Salesian Historical Archive of Peru.
However, his initial experience at the school
wasn’t entirely pleasant. As he wrote: “My first encounter with the Salesians
and my new classmates wasn’t great. They were all one or two years older than
me, but seemed even older—they used bad language and talked about dirty things
we at La Salle in Cochabamba didn’t even know existed” (El pez en el
agua… A Fish in the Water, p. 24).
He also mentioned being teased for his
highland accent and “rabbit teeth.” Despite the rough start, he formed lifelong
friendships there, including with Javier Silva Ruete—nicknamed ”el
gordito” (chubby)—who would later become Peru’s minister of finances in
several administrations from the late 20th to early 21st century.
Though brief, his time at the Salesian school
had a lasting impact on his life. He absorbed a kind of rough, masculine
vernacular that would later show up in his literary voice. And thanks to his
friend Silva Ruete, he also got his first glimpse of political life. Silva once
attended a rally for Victor Raul Haya de la Torre, the leader of the APRA
party, and this early exposure to political passion left a mark. Politics would
become a major theme in both Vargas Llosa’s work and his public life.
In 1946, the year Vargas Llosa studied there,
the school’s director was Fr. José Safarik, with Fr. Francisco Dañek as
catechist, and Fr. Mario Genero as primary school counselor (Elenco Generale
1946, vol. II, p. 124).
Admiration for Don Bosco’s Work
Nearly 70 years later, in March 2013, by then
a Nobel-winning author, Vargas Llosa traveled to Chacas in the Ancash
region—over 10,000 feet above sea level—to celebrate his 77th birthday. He had
heard of the Salesian priest Fr. Ugo De Censi (1924–2018) and was eager to see
the work being done there firsthand.
He described the experience in his
article ”Chacas and the Sky,” published in Spain’s El
País in early April 2013. [See also From
the Eastern Front: Nobel Laureate Praises Fr. Ugo de Censi.]
Describing Fr. Ugo’s legacy in the remote
White Mountains, he wrote: “This slightly anarchist and dreamer of a priest is,
at the same time, a man of action—a true mover and shaker—who, without asking
the State for a single penny, and putting his bold ideas into action, has led a
real economic and social revolution in Chacas and the surrounding areas.”
The article was
reprinted in full by ANS and widely shared by the Salesians of Peru and
media outlets across the globe.
410-417-8747 http://www.artesanosdonbosco.com/
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