Background

Ethnicity: Federico's father descended from a Hungarian ancestry and his mother is of Russian-Jewish descent.

Federico Andahazi was born on June 6, 1963, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a son of Bela Andahazi, an aristocratic Hungarian poet and psychoanalyst, and Juana Merlín.

Education

In his youth, Federico began reading the Argentinean and universal classic authors. He used to run away from school to meet his friends in bookstores and bars at Corrientes Avenue, an emblematic Buenos Aires culture place. By those years, he had begun writing his first short stories.

Federico Andahazi received a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires.

Career

Andahazi burst onto his country’s literary scene in 1997 with his award-winning, yet controversial novel "The Anatomist", the main character of which is loosely based on a historical figure. The plot revolves around the exploits of Renaissance-era anatomist Mateo Colombo, who, through his experiments on dead bodies, makes certain discoveries about the female sexual anatomy. The book was immediately popular in Argentina, particularly with female readers. It was also critically successful and was awarded the prestigious Fortabat Prize for the best Argentine first novel. However, the award was revoked by its sponsor, the heiress Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, because she thought the book obscene. The controversy was largely due to the book’s subject matter, which contained scenes of cannibalism, female genital mutilation, child prostitution and pedophilia. However, the controversy did not hurt the book’s popularity, as it continued to be a best seller.

In 1998, Andahazi’s second novel, "The Merciful Women", was published. The fictional story, which takes place during the summer of 1816, centers on characters and past literary greats Lord Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and Mary’s stepsister. In the novel, the writers compete to see, who can compose the best vampire story, while Byron’s secretary, John Polidori, uses evil to obtain his own literary aspirations.

In 2000, Andahazi published "El príncipe" (The Prince) and, two years later, in 2002, "El secreto de los flamencos" (The Secret of the Flemish). Federico's other works include "La ciudad de los herejes" (City of Heretics) (2005), "El conquistador" (The Conqueror) (2006), "El libro de los placeres prohibidos" (The Book of Forbidden Pleasures) (2012), "Los amantes bajo el Danubio" (The Lovers under the Danube) (2015) and others.

In summer of 2005, Federico, together with his readers, collectively wrote a newspaper series, called "Mapas del fin del mundo" (Maps from the End of the World), published by the newspaper Clarín. The author wrote the beginning of a text, asking the readers to continue the story, create characters, propose plots, solve riddles, to be sent by e-mail. Therefore, in an unprecedented work, reading and answering thousands of e-mails per week, Andahazi built the story with the various inputs and points of view. Every Saturday a new chapter was added to the novel, increasing the participation and the expectation of readers, turned co-authors.

During his writing career, Federico contributed to many anthologies, including "Líneas aéreas" (1999), "La Selección Argentina" (2000), "A Whistler in the Nightworld" (2002), "Las palabras pueden: Los escritores y la infancia" (2007) and others.

In addition, he lectured at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the University of Moscow, Russia, as well as the University of Santos Ossa of Antofagasta, Chile. Also, Andahazi gave a speech in different European cities, such as Stockholm, Paris, as well as in Latin America and the United States.

Andahazi took part in various literary congresses in Finland, France and Spain. He participated in different book fairs, held in Guadalajara, Moscow, Pula, Istanbul, Madrid, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and other cities of Argentina.

Moreover, during his lifetime, Frederico practiced psychoanalysis for several years.

Achievements

• Federico Andahazi is one of the Argentinian authors, whose works were translated into many languages. His best-known works are "The Anatomist" (1997) and "The Merciful Women" (1998).
  
  Federico's books were published by the most prestigious publishers. In the United States, his works were published by Doubleday, in England - by Transworld, in France - by Laffont, in Italy - by Frassinelli, in China - by China Times, in Japan - by Kadokawa, in Germany - by Krüger and dozens of publishing houses from different countries. His work has international critics' respect and his books are the subject matter for many reviews and studies.
  
  Federico received a Fortabat Prize for the best Argentine first novel - "The Anatomist" (1997). However, the award was later revoked. During his career, the writer received other awards, including the First Prize of the Segunda Bienal de Arte Joven de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (1996), First Prize of the Concurso Anual desde la Gente (1996), CAMED Prize (1996) and Planeta Prize (2006).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Errante en la sombra

    (Juan Molina, the greatest tango singer ever, except for C...)

    2004
  • Las piadosas

    (Federico Andahazi, author of the critically acclaimed nov...)

    1998
  • The Merciful Women

    (The second novel from the best-selling Argentine author o...)

    1998
  • The Anatomist

    (The original book was published in 1997. The following ye...)

    1998
  • El secreto de los flamencos 2002
  • El conquistador 2006
  • El libro de los placeres prohibidos 2012
  • Los amantes bajo el Danubio 2015

Interests

• Motorbikes

Connections

Federico is married to Aida Pippo.

Father:

Bela Andahazi

Mother:

Juana Merlín

Wife:

Aida Pippo