We are saddened to announce the passing of Antonio Skármeta Vranicic, an acclaimed Chilean writer, scriptwriter, director, diplomat, and Columbia University alumnus, who passed away at the age of 83. In 2014, Skármeta received Chile’s National Literature Prize, crowning a career that spanned literature, film, and public service.
After completing his studies in Philosophy at Universidad de Chile, Skármeta traveled to New York in 1964 on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue a Master's in Literature at Columbia's Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures. He graduated in 1966, and reflecting on his time at Columbia, he fondly remembered: “I had excellent professors, including Francisco García Lorca, the brother of Federico García Lorca, and Gonzalo Sobejano, who was my mentor in medieval Spanish literature, the Renaissance, and Cervantes’ Don Quixote.”
Upon returning to Chile, Skármeta took on roles as a theater director and professor at several institutions, including Universidad de Chile. He published his first book, El Entusiasmo, in 1967.
Following the 1973 military coup in Chile, Skármeta lived in exile in Argentina, Bolivia, and West Germany. During this period, he continued his literary work and became deeply involved in cinema. He wrote and adapted several of his works for film, including his renowned novel Ardiente Paciencia (later retitled El Cartero de Neruda), which has since been translated into over 30 languages. Additionally, from exile, he also joined a vibrant group of Chilean artists and intellectuals who were engaged in solidarity efforts, shaping a rich cultural experience.
After the 1988 plebiscite in Chile, Skármeta returned to his home country and resumed his cultural work. In the 1990s, he founded the “Heinrich Böll” literary workshop at the Goethe Institute and hosted El Show de los Libros, a popular cultural program on Chilean public television. He also served as Chile’s ambassador to Germany under President Ricardo Lagos.
In February 2008, Skármeta returned to Columbia University for the first time since his studies there in the 1960s. Speaking at an event organized by the Hispanic New York project, he reflected on how New York had shaped his literary imagination: “Why did I come to New York? Why was it so attractive to me, living so far away in Chile? For many years, my only dream was to get out of my country and live in New York. I wrote a lot of books about this need, this urge.”
Skármeta’s work has been celebrated internationally, earning prestigious awards such as the Casa de las Américas Award in Cuba and the Arts and Letters Prize in Italy.
He passed away on October 15, 2024, at the age of 83, leaving behind a lasting legacy in literature, cinema and culture in Chile and beyond.
