Google celebrates Alfonso Reyes with doodle

The doodle, designed by Mexican illustrator Juan Palomino , portrays Alfonso Reyes amidst a city of books. Today, Google celebrates the 129th anniversary of the birth of the famous poet, essay writer, teacher, and diplomat.

Alfonso Reyes Ochoa was born on May 17, 1889 , in Monterrey , in the state of Nuevo León . He went to law school at the National Jurisprudence School , which later became the Faculty of Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) . The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges thought of him as “the greatest prose writer in the Spanish language."

Google celebrates Alfonso Reyes with doodle

During his university years, Alfonso Reyes wrote “La Cena” (The Supper) , one of the first and most influential pieces of surrealist literature in Mexico, which is why today’s doodle commemorates the short story, which follows a circular narrative, where the action begins and ends at the same time.

After his college years, Reyes became a foreign diplomat in France, Spain, Argentina, and Brazil. Afterward, he moved to Spain and dedicated himself to writing and teaching, publishing numerous essays and poetry works.

He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Letters , founder of the French Institute of Latin America and of the National College . He was also chairman at the Casa de España in Mexico City , which was later renamed as El Colegio de México (The College of Mexico) .

He was candidate for the Nobel Prize on several occasions, and although he never received it, his constant dedication to culture and literature garnered him many other awards and recognitions, such as the National Literature Award, the Manuel Ávila Camacho Literature Award , and a prize from the Mexican Book Institute , to name a few.

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