HUGO ARGÜELLES: BIOGRAPHY, OUTSTANDING WORKS - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Hugo Argüelles (1932-2003) was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, playwright, and theater director. During a good part of his professional life he worked as a teacher and participated in the production and realization of television programs.

Argüelles's work was abundant and had international recognition. The writer was characterized by developing topics of social interest, treated from a reflective point of view and with a certain touch of irony. Several of his theatrical pieces were adapted for television and film.

Hugo Argüelles. Source: Ecured.cu.

The most famous plays by this Mexican playwright were: The Crocodile of the Rococo Pantheon, The Spring of the Scorpions, The Piranhas Love in Lent and The Weaver of Miracles. Hugo Argüelles' talent led him to receive several awards, such as the National Theater Award.

Biography

Birth and studies

Hugo Argüelles Cano was born on January 2, 1932 in Veracruz, Mexico. Information about his parents and relatives is scarce and about his academic training it is known that he studied medicine and Hispanic literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The playwright also studied theater at the National Institute of Fine Arts.

Start of his theatrical career

Although Argüelles completed his medical career, he decided to dedicate himself to the performing arts. In 1951 he began to work as a theater director and worked on the staging of the piece Las cosas simples. Seven years later, he was awarded the National Theater Award for Los Cuervos Are Mourning.

Other tasks

For a long time Hugo Argüelles was a professor in Mexican institutions. He worked at UNAM as a professor of modern letters and dramatic art. He had the opportunity to teach theater at the Centro Universitario de Teatro and the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Coat of arms of the UNAM, place of studies and work of Hugo Argüelles. Source: Both, the shield and the motto, José Vasconcelos Calderón, via Wikimedia Commons

Multifaceted life

The professional life of this Mexican playwright was characterized by being active. He had participation in television as a producer and host, in addition he was in charge of adapting some of his works for the television format. Hugo also developed workshops on dramatic literature and was a cultural delegate.

Last years and death

Argüelles dedicated his life to the theater and that made him worthy of recognition. In 1982 he was honored by the Spanish Athenaeum in his native country and the following year the Union of Cronistas y Criticos de Teatro celebrated his career. The writer passed away on December 24, 2003 in Mexico City at the age of seventy.

Awards

- National Theater Award in 1958.

- National Prize of Fine Arts in 1959.

- Prize of the Union of Theater Critics and Chroniclers in 1980.

Plays

Brief description of some of his works

The crows are in mourning

His main play belonged to the genre of farce and was divided into three acts. The plot of the story was about family and greed. In the course of the play, each of the characters revealed their intentions.

The name of the work made reference to the indifferent attitude of Don Lacho's children to their last days of life. They were only aware of the riches that he was going to leave them. So they used all means to process a death certificate while he was still alive.

The main characters of the play were:

- Don Lacho.

- Enrique.

- Matthew.

- Gelasio.

- Mercy.

- Maria.

Fragment

Mercy: - And the advantages, do not count? Think about them too. You see, he can't even breathe. All the time with that noise in the throat. And if he dies - as I hope in God - tonight, we can go to the solar tomorrow, Monday. Everything is neglected because of his bloody agony that never ends.

Wild roosters

It was an interesting work by Argüelles in which he revealed his customary black humor and irony about aspects of life. The story was psychologically charged, which gave intensity and depth to the incest plot. It has been represented countless times.

Fragment. Act i

Father: (Hitting the table) -And? So am I going crazy? Feel how I feel and be someone who… has to go downhill! If I am, I can't stand the energy inside me! How? But how… am I going to think about it, man! I'm going to throw a few plumbs around there: that: I must entertain myself. It is that they are already more than 17 days locked up here! Anyone's nerves get on edge!

Otoniel: -Take it easy… and don't expose yourself… -And less to shoot, even if it is to practice aiming. Here you have to be calm for at least a month. And just in case, I've already sent for two more to reinforce the night watch. Calm down and… well (toasts with empty glass) say hello.

The Father sees it. It is contained with great efforts. He humps. He sits. Baby.

Otoniel: -Looking at Father's left leg) Does it still hurt?

Fragment of

«Fernando: -We were stupid! Why did not we think of that!

Roberto: -But the only one who is taking risks is me!

Jorge: -Are you afraid?

Roberto: -Suppose that one day I fall. Where do you think they would send me to reward my ingenuity?

Jorge: -How exactly do they do?

Fernando: -The idea was Roberto's. (He looks at it with admiration).

Roberto: (Satisfied, but pretending simplicity) -I simply suggested that taking advantage of the fact that I work at the bank, he could take out of a file the joint account cards of some clients; of those who, being several relatives with the same account, do not know very well who has withdrawn the money.

References

1. Argüelles, Hugo (1932-2003). (2011). Mexico: Secretariat of Culture. Recovered from: literature.inba.gob.mx.
2. Hugo Argüelles. (2017). Mexico: Encyclopedia of Literature in Mexico. Recovered from: elem.mx.
3. Hugo Argüelles. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
4. Hugo Argüelles. (S. f.). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.
5. Trilogy of the rites. Hugo Argüelles. (S. f.). Venezuela: Google Books. Recovered from: books.google.co.ve.