Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza


Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza is a Colombian journalist, writer, and diplomat. Mendoza was named in honour to the Roman authors Pliny the Younger and Apuleius.

Career

Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza born in Tunja, Boyacá in 1932, son of the lawyer and politic Plinio Mendoza Neira, who was witness to the murder of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. He studied political science at Sorbonne in Paris.
He is very well known for his close friendship with the literature Nobel prize winner Gabriel García Márquez. Mendoza and García Márquez spent time in Europe during the early 60s. Mendoza published a biographical novel regarding the life and anecdotes of García Márquez and their circle of friends, poets, and writers during those years in Europe. The book was entitled "The Fragrance of the Guava".
Mendoza served as First Secretary of the Colombian Embassy in France, writing newspaper articles for several international publications at the same time. After returning to Colombia in 1959, he became a full-time writer and journalist.

Works

Short stories