Octavio Paz

Paz, Octavio (1914–98), Mexican poet and essayist who received the 1990 Nobel Prize for literature. His writings are known for their synthesis of many influences, including Aztec and Mexican culture, French surrealism, and Tantric and Buddhist thought. Paz traveled to Spain as a left-wing activist in the Spanish Civil War (1930s) and then to Paris (1940s). He lived in the United States during the 1940s, returning in the 1970s to teach in universities. He also traveled to India and Japan (1952) and became Mexican ambassador to India (1962–68). His writings include the poetry collections Liberty Under Oath (1960) and The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957–1987 (1987) and the essay collections The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950) and One Earth, Four or Five Worlds (1985).