Miguel de Cervantes Prize

Award for exemplary contributions to literature in the Spanish language

Award

Miguel de Cervantes Prize

Medal of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize

Country| Spain
Presented by| Ministry of Culture
Reward(s)| €125,000
First awarded| 1976
Website| CervantesPresentacion

The Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spanish: Premio de Literatura en Lengua Castellana Miguel de Cervantes) is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language.

## History

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The prize was established in 1975 by the Ministry of Culture of Spain and first awarded the following year.[1] The Encyclopædia Britannica calls it "most prestigious and remunerative award given for Spanish-language literature".[1] The winner receives a monetary award of 125,000 euros, which makes it one of the richest literary prizes in the world.[2] The prize rewards authors from any Spanish-speaking nation and recognizes the recipient's overall body of work.[1] Of the forty-seven prizes awarded in the history of the Cervantes Prize, only six have ever been awarded to women. In 1988, the Spanish writer María Zambrano (1904-1991) was the first female writer to be honored. The award is named after Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote.[2] The candidates are proposed by the Association of Spanish Language Academies (i.e., the Royal Spanish Academy).[3]

As of the presentation of the 2023 award to Luis Mateo Díez, the recipients have been recognized for their writing of novels, poetry, short stories, essays, translations, philosophy or dramas - or for combinations thereof. With two winners in 1979, there have been 49 recipients of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.

### The Cervantes Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature

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Three of the 45 winners of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize have also won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Octavio Paz (Cervantes 1981, Nobel 1990) and Mario Vargas Llosa (Cervantes 1994, Nobel 2010), were awarded the Nobel Prize in subsequent years, while Camilo José Cela received the Nobel Prize in 1989 and was awarded the Cervantes Prize in 1995.

## Laureates

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The list of winners is available at the official Premio 'Miguel Cervantes' website.[4]

Year  | Picture  | Winner  | Country  | Genre(s)

|
|
|
|

1976  |  | Jorge Guillén |  Spain | poetry
1977  |  | Alejo Carpentier |  Cuba | novel, essay
1978  |  | Dámaso Alonso |  Spain | poetry
1979[5] |  | Jorge Luis Borges |  Argentina | short story, poetry, essay, translation
| Gerardo Diego |  Spain | poetry
1980  |  | Juan Carlos Onetti |  Uruguay | novel
1981  |  | Octavio Paz |  Mexico | poetry, essay
1982  |  | Luis Rosales |  Spain | poetry, essay
1983  |  | Rafael Alberti |  Spain | poetry
1984  |  | Ernesto Sabato |  Argentina | novel, essay
1985  |  | Gonzalo Torrente Ballester |  Spain | novel
1986  |  | Antonio Buero Vallejo |  Spain | drama
1987  |  | Carlos Fuentes |  Mexico | novel, essay
1988  |  | María Zambrano |  Spain | philosophy, essay
1989  |  | Augusto Roa Bastos |  Paraguay | novel
1990  |  | Adolfo Bioy Casares |  Argentina | novel, short story
1991  |  | Francisco Ayala |  Spain | novel, short story, essay, translation
1992  |  | Dulce María Loynaz |  Cuba | poetry
1993  |  | Miguel Delibes |  Spain | novel
1994  |  | Mario Vargas Llosa |  Peru | novel, essay, short story, drama
1995  |  | Camilo José Cela |  Spain | novel
1996  |  | José García Nieto |  Spain | poetry
1997  |  | Guillermo Cabrera Infante |  Cuba | novel
1998  |  | José Hierro |  Spain | poetry
1999  |  | Jorge Edwards |  Chile | novel
2000  |  | Francisco Umbral |  Spain | novel, essay
2001  |  | Álvaro Mutis |  Colombia | poetry, novel
2002  |  | José Jiménez Lozano |  Spain | novel
2003  |  | Gonzalo Rojas |  Chile | poetry
2004  |  | Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio |  Spain | novel, essay
2005  |  | Sergio Pitol |  Mexico | novel
2006  |  | Antonio Gamoneda |  Spain | poetry
2007  |  | Juan Gelman |  Argentina | poetry
2008  |  | Juan Marsé |  Spain | novel
2009  |  | José Emilio Pacheco |  Mexico | poetry, novel, short story
2010  |  | Ana María Matute |  Spain | novel
2011  |  | Nicanor Parra |  Chile | poetry
2012  |  | José Manuel Caballero Bonald |  Spain | poetry, novel
2013  |  | Elena Poniatowska |  Mexico | novel
2014  |  | Juan Goytisolo |  Spain | novel, essay
2015  |  | Fernando del Paso |  Mexico | novel, poetry, essay, drama, short story
2016  |  | Eduardo Mendoza |  Spain | novel, drama
2017  |  | Sergio Ramírez |  Nicaragua | novel, short story, essay
2018  |  | Ida Vitale |  Uruguay | poetry, prose, essay
2019  |  | Joan Margarit |  Spain | poetry
2020  |  | Francisco Brines[6] |  Spain | poetry
2021  |  | Cristina Peri Rossi |  Uruguay | prose, poetry, short story, translation
2022  |  | Rafael Cadenas |  Venezuela | poetry, essay
2023  |  | Luis Mateo Díez |  Spain | novel, essay

## Laureates per country

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The following table shows the number of laureates per country:

Rank | Country | Laureates

|
|

1 |  Spain | 25
2 |  Mexico | 6
3 |  Argentina | 4
4 |  Chile | 3
4 |  Cuba | 3
4 |  Uruguay | 3
7 |  Colombia | 1
7 |  Nicaragua | 1
7 |  Paraguay | 1
7 |  Peru | 1
7 |  Venezuela | 1
| Total | 49

## Notes and references

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1. ^ a b c "Cervantes Prize | award". Britannica.com. 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
2. ^ a b Jonathan Wolfe (November 12, 2015). "Fernando del Paso Wins Miguel de Cervantes Prize". New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
3. ^ "Miguel de Cervantes". donquijote.org. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
4. ^ "Premio "Miguel de Cervantes"" (in Spanish). Spain: Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
5. ^ Two awarded in 1979
6. ^ "Francisco Brines, premio Cervantes". lavanguardia.com. 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2020-11-16.

## External links

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* Miguel de Cervantes Prize at the Ministry of Culture
* Miguel de Cervantes Prize El poder de la palabra (in Spanish)

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* t
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Laureates of the Miguel de Cervantes Prize

* 1976: Jorge Guillén
* 1977: Alejo Carpentier
* 1978: Dámaso Alonso
* 1979: Jorge Luis Borges / Gerardo Diego
* 1980: Juan Carlos Onetti
* 1981: Octavio Paz
* 1982: Luis Rosales
* 1983: Rafael Alberti
* 1984: Ernesto Sabato
* 1985: Gonzalo Torrente Ballester
* 1986: Antonio Buero Vallejo
* 1987: Carlos Fuentes
* 1988: María Zambrano
* 1989: Augusto Roa Bastos
* 1990: Adolfo Bioy Casares
* 1991: Francisco Ayala
* 1992: Dulce María Loynaz
* 1993: Miguel Delibes
* 1994: Mario Vargas Llosa
* 1995: Camilo José Cela
* 1996: José García Nieto
* 1997: Guillermo Cabrera Infante
* 1998: José Hierro
* 1999: Jorge Edwards
* 2000: Francisco Umbral
* 2001: Álvaro Mutis
* 2002: José Jiménez Lozano
* 2003: Gonzalo Rojas
* 2004: Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio
* 2005: Sergio Pitol
* 2006: Antonio Gamoneda
* 2007: Juan Gelman
* 2008: Juan Marsé
* 2009: José Emilio Pacheco
* 2010: Ana María Matute
* 2011: Nicanor Parra
* 2012: José Manuel Caballero Bonald
* 2013: Elena Poniatowska
* 2014: Juan Goytisolo
* 2015: Fernando del Paso
* 2016: Eduardo Mendoza
* 2017: Sergio Ramírez
* 2018: Ida Vitale
* 2019: Joan Margarit
* 2020: Francisco Brines
* 2021: Cristina Peri Rossi
* 2022: Rafael Cadenas
* 2023: Luis Mateo Díez
* 2024: Álvaro Pombo

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