Elena Poniatowska

French-born Mexican journalist and author · Mexico · Journalists · Born 1932 · age 94

Elena Poniatowska is read about 368 times a day, in 32 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 83 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare Claim

A life in dates

2023Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish LanguageAwardMore about this2018“I learned, as they say, by doing.”In their wordsInterview with The Paris Review (2018)Read the whole statement

“if I had been, say, a French writer, I would have been free to write whatever I wished, which would have been writing of an imaginative sort.”In their wordsInterview with The Paris Review (2018)Read the whole statement

“Boundaries, after all - of custom, of language, of what is and is not permitted - not only function to keep others out but also keep those inside from expanding.”In their wordsInterview with The Paris Review (2018)Read the whole statement

“There is an immense abyss between the very few who have money and the vast number who are poor - and there is scarce concern on the part of those who have for those who do not.”In their wordsInterview with The Paris Review (2018)Read the whole statement

“The ultimate outcome of our actions cannot be known. But despite our limited awareness, I believe we must always act with compassion.”In their wordsInterview with The Paris Review (2018)Read the whole statement

2017Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish LanguageAwardMore about this2013FIL AwardAwardMiguel de Cervantes PrizeAward2010Honorary DoctorateAward2007Rómulo Gallegos PrizeAward2004Honorary Doctor of the University of PauAwardMaria Moors Cabot PrizesAward2001Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of MexicoAwardMore about thisJosé Fuentes Mares National Prize for LiteratureAward2000Honorary DoctorateAward1994Honorary DoctorateAward1992“I write in order to belong.”In their words"A Question Mark Engraved on my Eyelids" (1992)Read the whole statement

1979Honorary DoctorateAwardPremio Nacional de Periodismo de MéxicoAward1932Born19 May 1932

Also in Deutsch

Photos 5

Princess Elena Poniatowska

Poniatowska signing book on Mariana Yampolsky at the Museo de Arte Popular in 2012

Elena Poniatowska in the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2017.

Poniatowska at the 30 year commemoration of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

In their own words 10

Elena Poniatowska

10 statements, newest first

I learned, as they say, by doing.
2018, Interview with The Paris Review (2018), Own words
style, as I see it, is not an adornment added to a work.
2018, Interview with The Paris Review (2018), Own words
if I had been, say, a French writer, I would have been free to write whatever I wished, which would have been writing of an imaginative sort.
2018, Interview with The Paris Review (2018), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish Language2023

Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish Language2017

Honorary Doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense2015

Miguel de Cervantes Prize2013

FIL Award2013

Honorary Doctor of Paris 8 University2011

Honorary Doctorate2010

Rómulo Gallegos Prize2007

IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award2006

Maria Moors Cabot Prizes2004

Honorary Doctor of the University of Pau2004

National Prize for Arts and Sciences2002

José Fuentes Mares National Prize for Literature2001

Alfaguara Prize2001

Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico2001

Honorary Doctorate2000

Honorary Doctorate1994

Guggenheim Fellowship1994

Honorary Doctorate1979

Premio Nacional de Periodismo de México1979

Knight of the Legion of Honour

Family

Father Jean Joseph Évremond Sperry Poniatowski

Elena Poniatowska

Partners

Spouse Guillermo Haro

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor, known professionally as Elena Poniatowska, is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on those considered disenfranchised, especially women and the poor. She was born in Paris to upper-class parents. Her mother's family fled Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. She left France for Mexico when she was ten to escape World War II. When she was 18, she began writing for the newspaper Excélsior, doing interviews and society columns. Despite the lack of opportunity for women from the 1950s to the 1970s, she wrote about social and political issues in newspapers and both fiction and nonfiction books. Her best-known work is La noche de Tlatelolco: Testimonios de historia oral, about the repression of the 1968 student protests in Mexico City. Due to her left-wing views, she has been nicknamed "the Red Princess". She is considered "Mexico's grande dame of letters" and is still an active writer.

Country

Mexico

In common with Elena

Verónica CastroAlso in Xico's Journey (2020)

Marco Antonio SolísAlso in Xico's Journey (2020)

Daniela RomoAlso in Juan Gabriel: Mi Primer Bellas Artes (2026)

Ryan GageAlso in Leonora in the Morning Light (2025)

María RojoAlso in Esmeralda Comes by Night (1997)

Lita StanticAlso in Ana (2020)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.