Rodolfo Rabanal
Rafael Oscar Rabanal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Argentina |
| Died | November 2, 2020 (aged 80) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, journalist |
| Known for | Managing editor and columnist in national and international media; Undersecretary of Culture during Raúl Alfonsín's administration |
| Notable work | El Apartado, Un día perfecto, Cita en Marruecos, La Vida brillante |
Rafael Oscar Rabanal (15 June 1940 – 2 November 2020) was an Argentine author and journalist who held positions as managing editor and columnist across various national and international media outlets.
Career
Rabanal embarked on his journalistic path following partial studies in the humanities. His primary professional association was with La Nación, a prominent newspaper in Argentina. In 1979, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship that allowed him to attend the International Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, providing an opportunity to leave Argentina during the military dictatorship. Throughout the 1980s, he occupied the role of Assistant Secretary of Culture during President Raúl Alfonsín’s administration. He was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1988 and received several accolades, including the Municipal Novel Award (1995), the "Club de los 13" prize (1997), and the Pen Club Argentino award for his novel Cita en Marruecos (1998). His literary works have been translated into French, English, and Polish. In 2010, he was acknowledged as one of 200 significant cultural figures.
His first novel, El Apartado (1975), achieved cult status within Argentina and earned an award from café Bar-Baró. The subsequent book, Un día perfecto (1978), published in Barcelona, reached sales exceeding thirty thousand copies—a notable accomplishment for that period.
Following his fellowship in the United States, Rabanal established himself in Paris as a correspondent for a Buenos Aires newspaper but resigned due to editorial disagreements during the Falklands War. Subsequently, he worked as a translator for UNESCO and France’s Ministry of Culture under Jack Lang’s leadership.
Upon returning to Buenos Aires in 1984, he released El pasajero (1985). During Argentina’s transition to democracy, Alfonsín appointed him Undersecretary of Culture. His manuscript La Vida brillante was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and later won the Buenos Aires Municipal Prize.
Among his other significant publications are the short story collection No vaya a Génova en invierno, novels such as El factor sentimental (1990), Cita en Marruecos (1995)—which was shortlisted for the Rómulo Gallegos Prize—La mujer Rusa (2004), and El héroe sin nombre (2006). He also authored essays compiled in El roce de Dante (2008) and La Vida Privada (2011), along with a personal journal spanning two decades titled La vida Escrita (2014).
Rabanal wrote the travel narrative La Costa Bárbara (2000) and a children's novella called Noche en Gondwana (1988). In 1987, he scripted "Gombrowiz or La seducción," which was directed by Alberto Fischerman.
During the 1990s, he taught literature at the University of Buenos Aires and subsequently lived in Uruguay.
Works
- El apartado (The Section) (1975)
- Un día perfecto (A Perfect Day) (1978)
- En otra parte (Elsewhere) (1982)
- El pasajero (The Passenger) (1984)
- No vaya a Génova en invierno (Do Not Go to Genoa in Winter) (1988)
- Noche en Gondwana (Night in Gondwana) (1988)
- El factor sentimental (The Sentimental Factor) (1990)
- La Vida brillante (Bright Life) (1993)
- Cita en Marruecos (Appointment in Morocco) (1995)
- Los peligros de la dicha (The Dangers of Happiness) (1999)
- La Costa Bárbara (The Costa Barbara) (2000)
- La mujer rusa (The Russian Woman) (2004)
- El héroe sin nombre (The Hero Without a Name) (2006)
- El roce de Dante (The Touch of Dante) (2008)
- La Vida Privada (The Private Life) (2011)
- La vida Escrita (The Written Life) (2014)