Books, letters and photographs of Ernesto Sabato make up his legacy "in memoriam" to the Caja de las Letras

The mark of the Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato (1911-2011), winner of the 1984 Cervantes Prize, has entered the Caja de las Letras through his son Mario Sabato, who deposited books, photographs, letters and other objects of the novelist, essayist and defender of human rights in his country. The legacy "in memoriam" of the author of "El túnel" (1948), given in perpetuity to the Cervantes Institute, was kept in safe deposit box number 1542 in the old vault of the institution's headquarters. 

The bequest includes a copy of "Uno y el Universo" (1945), a collection of short essays which was his first work; a copy of his essay "Heterodoxia" (1952); the collection of poems "Cenizas y plegarias", by Matilde Sabato; a dozen photographs, various typewritten letters including handwritten notes by Ernesto Sabato and a copy of the book "El Pantanillo de Ernesto Sabato", written by the author and journalist Pedro Jorge Solans. 

The director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, said he was "especially moved" to receive the legacy of "one of the great voices of our literature". For the writer, Ernesto Sábato is a fundamental reference point, both for his literary work and his capacity to internalise his characters, as well as for his vindication of human rights and the values of democracy.

Ernesto Sabato, after whom the library of the Cervantes Institute in Budapest is named, was a staunch defender of the rights and values opposed to Argentina's dictatorial policies. In 1984 he was elected president of the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP), which drafted the "Sabato Report", known in Spain as "Nunca más". A first edition of this historic report on the abuses of the military regime is kept in the Caja de las Letras, where it was deposited by the University of Buenos Aires in October 2021. 

The writer and filmmaker Mario Sabato vindicated the "crusade for morality and justice" that both his father and the former Argentinean president Raúl Alfonsín undertook, whose son, the Argentinean ambassador to Spain, Ricardo Alfonsín, acted as a witness to the handing over of the legacy. 

Mario Sabato, who is also in charge of the House Museum dedicated to the author of "Hombres y engranajes" (1951), stressed that he "loved the Spanish language that the conquest bequeathed to us". In his opinion, the conquest was something "fantastic, although atrocious in other respects", "terrible and miraculous", while at the same time leaving as its best fruit the value and unity of the Spanish language, always defended by Ernesto Sabato. 

The Secretary of Tourism of the Municipality of Villa Carlos Paz, Sebastián Boldrini, the President of the Córdoba Tourism Agency, Esteban Avilés, and the aforementioned Pedro Solans also acted as witnesses. 

The book "El Pantanillo de Ernesto Sabato", by Solans, which is part of the legacy, is based precisely on the rescue of Sabato's work from his experience in the Pantanillo where he shared his experiences with artists and writers who were looking for a refuge for their concerns. While he was writing some of his most outstanding works, Alejandra Pizarnik, Jorge Amado, Córdoba Iturburu, Ernesto Che Guevara's family, artists, etc. visited the ranches. This January marks the eightieth anniversary of his arrival at Pantanillo and coincides with the twentieth anniversary of his farewell to the place he frequented, where many of the photographs that make up the legacy handed over "sine die" this Wednesday were taken.  

Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanismo advisor.