The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2010 obtained in the first round 18 votes, against one for the director Frédéric Vignale, one white and two draws, said the Academy, in a press release.
His candidacy had been retained by the Immortals while since 2010 precisely, it is necessary to be under 75 years of age to stand for this election.
On the other hand, there is no rule as to nationality.
Mario Vargas Llosa has never published in French, although he speaks it fluently, having immigrated to Paris in 1959. He now lives in Madrid.
His work translated into French, mainly by Gallimard editions, is abundant, from "La Ville et les Chiens" in 1966, to "Temps sauvage" in 2021. He was the first foreign writer to enter the prestigious collection of the Pléiade, in 2016.
Born in Arequipa (southern Peru) on March 28, 1936, this middle-class child, after a stint at the Lima Military Academy, was destined for literary studies, in Lima then Madrid, and journalism.
His talent as a writer will make him one of the figures of the revelation to the world of Latin American literature in the 1960s, alongside the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, the Argentinian Julio Cortázar or the Mexicans Carlos Fuentes and Juan. Rulfo.
He also had a political career, running for president in Peru in 1990. He affirmed controversial liberal views there.
The French Academy had not welcomed a Nobel laureate since François Mauriac, elected in 1933, recipient of the Swedish prize in 1952, and deceased in 1970.
Of the 40 seats in the institution designed as the guardian of the French language, five remain vacant, and the other 35 are occupied by 29 men and six women.
© 2021 AFP