Remembering Peruvian Poet, Scholar, and Activist José Antonio Mazzotti

José Antonio Mazzotti, the King Felipe VI of Spain Professor in Spanish Culture and Civilization and professor of Latin American literature, died on September 5. He was 63.

In addition to being a poet and literary activist, Mazzotti was a world-renowned scholar on Colonial Latin American studies, Latin American and Spanish poetry, Andean studies, film studies, and endangered languages, and was considered the foremost expert on writer and chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, "El Inca" (1539-1616).

Originally from Perú, Mazzotti joined Tufts in 2005 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2006. He served as chair of the Department of Romance Studies from 2006 to 2012 and was appointed to his named professorship in 2016, in recognition of his significant scholarly accomplishments.

From 2002 to 2005, Mazzotti held the title of Gardner Cowles Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literature at Harvard University, where he had been an assistant professor from 1997 to 2002. He received his MA and PhD in Colonial Latin American literature from Princeton University and held an MA in Latin American literature from the University of Pittsburgh. He did his undergraduate work at the prestigious Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in Lima.

A remarkably prolific scholar, Mazotti authored many books including The Creole Invention of Perú: Ethnic Nation and Epic Poetry in Colonial Lima (Cambria Press, 2019), El zorro y la luna. Poemas reunidos 1981-2016 (Casa de las Américas, 2018), Encontrando un inca: ensayos escogidos sobre el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Universidad de La Habana, 2018), Lima fundida: épica y nación criolla en el Perú (Vervuert & Iberoamericana, 2016) and Encontrando un inca: ensayos escogidos sobre el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (Axiara, 2016). His collection El Zorro y la Luna. Poemas reunidos 1981-2016 received the José Lezama Lima International Prize of Poetry from Casa de las Américas, Cuba, in 2018.

Mazzotti also served as president of the International Association of Peruvianists since 1995 and as Director of the Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana since 2010. He received multiple awards and honors over the course of his academic career, as well as grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As one of the most important authorities on Colonial literature in the Americas, he was frequently invited to Spain as a keynote speaker for conferences and symposia.

"José Antonio was a warm and insightful presence across the academic world," said Bárbara Brizuela, dean ad interim of the School of Arts and Sciences and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences."He was prolific and renowned for his scholarship, his poetry, his passion for teaching, and his advocacy of literature across countries and languages. He will be greatly missed by colleagues at Tufts and beyond."

Mazzotti is survived by his wife, Barbara Corbett, lecturer in the Departments of History and Romance Studies, his three sons, and his close colleagues and friends. A poetry event to celebrate his life and work will be held on campus at a later date.