Mexican poet Octavio Paz's legacy on display 25 years after death

A quarter century after his death, the cultural legacy of Mexican literary giant Octavio Paz is going on display at the poet's former home in Mexico City.

The museum, which opened on March 31, showcases books, documents, works of art and personal items that belonged to Paz, who died on April 19, 1998 aged 84.

The collection is housed in the 17th-century mansion where the 1990 Nobel literature laureate lived with his second wife, the French artist Marie Jose Tramini.

Not all of the items are yet on display, due to an ongoing legal process surrounding the assets left in the possession of Tramini, who died in 2018 without leaving a will.

When the rest of the collection is unveiled to the public will depend on how the legal procedures progress, Leticia Luna, director of the Casa Marie Jose and Octavio Paz museum, told AFP.

In 1997, the Mexican government created the Octavio Paz Foundation to preserve and share his work.

But his death the following year and differences with his widow complicated the administration of the estate, to the point that the foundation disappeared in 2003.

After Tramini's death, a group of intellectuals led by the French-born Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska asked for Paz's legacy to be declared national heritage.

The museum, located in the northwest of the capital, initially has seven rooms open to visitors.

Five exhibit the furniture and possessions of the couple and two contain objects from Tramini's studio.

Paz, an essayist, poet, translator, and diplomat, published more than 60 books.

At the age of 19 the budding author released his first book of poetry -- "Luna Silvestre" or "Forest Moon."

He was best known in the English-speaking world for his 1950 book-length essay "The Labyrinth of Solitude," an explanation of Mexico's national character.

Described by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa as "one of the great figures of our time," Paz's work has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Poniatowska had nurtured a close friendship with Paz since she was in her 20s.

"He provoked great love and sympathy," she told AFP in an interview.

"He liked to talk, discuss and was a born teacher, extraordinary," added Poniatowska, who was on Wednesday awarded Mexico's highest honor, the Belisario Dominguez Medal, by the Senate.

In his youth Paz supported liberalism and Marxism, but later condemned socialist regimes.

In 1968, he resigned from his position as ambassador to India in disgust over the massacre of protesting students in Mexico City in 1968.

"Mexico has lost its greatest thinker and poet," the country's then president Ernesto Zedillo said following his death.

© 2023 AFP