32 moments

1. Childhood at his grandfather's house

   1914-01-01 · Mixcoac, Mexico City, Mexico

   As an infant, Paz was taken by his mother to live at the home of his paternal grandfather Ireneo Paz in Mixcoac. The source says this move occurred a few months after his March 1914 birth; day and month are not supplied.

2. Birth in Mexico City

   1914-03-31 · Mexico City, Mexico

   Octavio Paz was born in Mexico City, beginning the life of the Mexican poet, essayist, editor, and diplomat.

3. Schooling in Los Angeles

   1916-01-01 · Los Angeles, California, United States

   Paz spent part of his early childhood in Los Angeles, where his parents enrolled him in school during the family's United States stay. The surrounding biography places the family's United States stay after his father arrived in October 1916 and says it lasted nearly two years; the exact school is not identified.

4. National Preparatory School

   1929-01-01 · Escuela Nacional Preparatoria de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico

   At age fifteen, Paz entered the National Preparatory School of San Ildefonso amid his early political and literary formation. The source's surrounding chronology places this episode in 1929; the precise enrollment date is not stated.

5. Law and literature studies at UNAM

   1932-01-01 · National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

   Paz attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico, studying law and literature before leaving his studies for work in Yucatán. The source gives a 1932–1937 attendance period; the card date records its beginning.

6. Teaching in Mérida

   1936-01-01 · Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

   Paz left Mexico City for Mérida, Yucatán, to work at a school for the sons of peasants and workers; there he began work on Entre la piedra y la flor.

7. Arrival in Paris for the writers' congress journey

   1937-07-01 · Paris, France

   

   Paz arrived in Paris with Carlos Pellicer en route to Spain for the Second International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture.

8. Second International Writers' Congress in Barcelona

   1937-07-01 · Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

   

   Paz attended the Second International Writers' Congress, a Republican-side cultural gathering held across Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. The source identifies July 1937 but does not provide a day or a city-by-city itinerary.

9. Second International Writers' Congress in Madrid

   1937-07-01 · Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain

   

   Paz attended the multi-city writers' congress in wartime Spain, an important encounter with Republican and international anti-fascist writers. The source identifies July 1937 but does not provide a day or a city-by-city itinerary.

10. Second International Writers' Congress in Valencia

    1937-07-01 · Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain

    

    Paz participated in the Second International Writers' Congress in Spain and publicly aligned himself with the Republican side. The source identifies July 1937 but does not provide a day or a city-by-city itinerary.

11. Study at the University of California

    1943-01-01 · University of California, Berkeley, California, United States

    Using his Guggenheim Fellowship, Paz studied at the University of California at Berkeley, deepening his exposure to Anglo-American modernist poetry.

12. Diplomatic service in Paris

    1945-01-01 · Paris, France

    Paz was sent to Paris in Mexican diplomatic service, where he wrote The Labyrinth of Solitude and engaged with surrealist circles.

13. Mexican diplomatic posting in New York City

    1945-01-01 · New York City, New York, United States

    After entering Mexico's diplomatic service, Paz was assigned for a period to New York City. The source dates his entry into the diplomatic service as two years after the 1943 Berkeley fellowship; it does not give a more precise New York posting date.

14. Chargé d'affaires in Tokyo

    1952-01-01 · Tokyo, Japan

    In the same year as his first Indian journey, Paz went to Tokyo as Mexico's chargé d'affaires.

15. First journey to India

    1952-01-01 · India

    Paz made his first documented journey to India, a formative encounter that preceded his later ambassadorship there. The source does not identify a city; coordinates are a representative point for India.

16. Return to Mexico City from Japan

    1953-01-01 · Mexico City, Mexico

    After serving at the Mexican embassy in India and then Japan, Paz returned to Mexico City to direct the Foreign Ministry's Office of International Organizations. The return is placed after a Japanese posting that lasted until January 1953; the exact day of arrival is not stated.

17. Return to Mexico City

    1954-01-01 · Mexico City, Mexico

    Paz returned to Mexico City, where he later wrote Piedra de sol and prepared Libertad bajo palabra.

18. Return to Paris on diplomatic duties

    1959-01-01 · Paris, France

    Paz returned to Paris for another diplomatic posting before his appointment as ambassador to India.

19. Ambassadorial residence in New Delhi

    1962-01-01 · New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Paz was appointed Mexico's ambassador to India, with residence in New Delhi; his Indian years became central to his later writing.

20. Teaching at Cornell University

    1965-01-01 · Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States

    In the autumn of 1965, Paz went to Cornell University and taught courses in Spanish and English. The surrounding sentence dates the visit to 1965; the source does not give exact course dates.

21. Refuge in Paris after resignation

    1968-01-01 · Paris, France

    After resigning from Mexico's diplomatic service over the Tlatelolco massacre, Paz sought refuge in Paris. The source places the Paris refuge after his 1968 resignation and before his 1969 return to Mexico, without a more precise date.

22. In New Delhi during the Tlatelolco massacre

    1968-10-02 · New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Paz was in New Delhi when the Tlatelolco massacre occurred in Mexico City; he resigned his ambassadorship in protest.

23. Return to Mexico and foundation of Plural

    1969-01-01 · Mexico City, Mexico

    Paz returned to Mexico, where he founded the magazine Plural with liberal Mexican and Latin American writers. The source names Mexico rather than a city; Mexico City is used because Plural was founded and published there.

24. Simón Bolívar Professorship at Cambridge

    1969-01-01 · University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

    Paz served as Simón Bolívar Professor at the University of Cambridge during 1969–1970. The appointment spanned 1969–1970; the card date records its beginning.

25. A. D. White Professorship at Cornell

    1972-01-01 · Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States

    Paz held Cornell's A. D. White Professorship-at-Large from 1972 to 1974. The appointment spanned 1972–1974; the card date records its beginning.

26. Charles Eliot Norton lectures at Harvard

    1974-01-01 · Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

    Paz served as Harvard's Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry; his lectures informed Los hijos del limo.

27. Jerusalem Prize ceremony

    1977-04-26 · Binyanei Ha'uma, Jerusalem, Israel

    Paz received the Jerusalem Prize during the opening of the Eighth Jerusalem International Book Fair and delivered remarks following Israel's president.

28. Cervantes Prize ceremony

    1982-04-23 · University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Community of Madrid, Spain

    King Juan Carlos I presented Paz with the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize at the University of Alcalá de Henares. The cited page contains an internal year inconsistency: its photographs and caption identify the ceremony as Alcalá de Henares, 23 April 1982. The card uses 1982, corroborated by the Spanish royal household's dated speech for the presentation.

29. Neustadt Prize ceremony

    1982-06-09 · University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States

    Paz received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature at the University of Oklahoma in Norman and concluded the event with a reading.

30. Poetry reading and interview in Washington

    1988-10-18 · Washington, District of Columbia, United States

    

    Paz read from Collected Poems of Octavio Paz 1957–1987 in Spanish in a Washington, D.C., event that also included an interview. The recording page identifies the city but not the venue; coordinates represent central Washington, D.C.

31. Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy

    1990-12-08 · Swedish Academy, Stockholm, Sweden

    After receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, Paz delivered his Nobel lecture, In Search of the Present, at the Swedish Academy.

32. Death at Casa Alvarado

    1998-04-19 · Casa Alvarado, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico

    Paz died at Casa Alvarado in Coyoacán, Mexico City, at age eighty-four.