Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa is a famous Spanish journalist, writer and inventor. He is a prominent representative of modern mass literature, currently around the world sold about 25 million copies of his works, some of them filmed. But he got rich, becoming the inventor of the modern method of desalination of sea water.
Writer Biography
Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa was born in Spain in 1936. He was born in the small town of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He grew up in a resort in the Canary Islands. When he was not even a year old, a civil war began in the country. The family was forced to flee to Africa, since the father of the hero of our article was a socialist. As a supporter of the Republic, he was imprisoned.
Young Alberto Vazquez-Figueroa spent all his childhood on the African continent. His mother died early, and his father after leaving prison was constantly forced to be treated for tuberculosis. So his character was raised by his uncle, who was a civil servant in the Spanish forces in Africa.
At the age of 16, Alberto Vazquez-Figueroa came to Tenerife to get an education. He was a scuba diving teacher for two years on the Southern Cross training vessel. Having accumulated enough money, he entered the School of Journalism in Madrid. In 1959, he received a diploma of graduation, and three years after that he managed to get a job in the newspaper Vanguardia, and later worked on television.
The writer himself admits that during his work as a journalist he visited many "hot spots", having witnessed military conflicts in Chad, Guinea, the Dominican Republic, Congo, Guatemala, Bolivia.
Creation
His creative debut took place when he was only 14 years old. At this age, he wrote his first story, entitled “Sand and the Wind,” which he managed to publish three years later. However, the poor financial situation could not allow him to completely concentrate on literary activity, so he had to combine creativity with the work of a correspondent.
The popularity of the hero of our article came after the release of his novel "Ebony". Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa released it in 1975. It described the slave trade in Africa. Four years later, director Richard Fleisher filmed the work of the hero of our article called Ashanti. The main roles were played by Michael Kane, Peter Ustinov and Beverly Johnson. In the same year, his autobiography Anaconda appeared.
Tuareg
The next success of the writer is the novel "Tuareg". Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa published it in 1980. In the 2000s, he released a continuation of this cycle - "Eyes of the Tuareg" and "The Last Tuareg."
The protagonist of this series is Gasel Sayyah, a representative of the Tuareg African people who live in the desert. He is one of the last representatives of this once powerful warlike nation.
In the very first novel of the cycle, an old man and a young man appear on the threshold of his highs, whom he is forced to let into the house and shelter, observing the ancient traditions of the desert. But Sayyah is not able to protect them. The evil people in military uniform that followed them break the sacred law of hospitality by killing a young man, and they arrest and take away the old man with them.
But Sayyah is not so simple, because he remembers the main commandment of the Tuaregs, which states that the guest should always be protected. Unable to help out the travelers, he decides to avenge them.
Garoe
Among the novels of the hero of our article, which have already accumulated several dozen, one more should be noted. For the book "Garoe" Alberto Vazquez-Figueroa in 2010 receives the international award of the Castilian king Alfonso X the Wise for the best historical novel.
It tells about a mysterious island in the Canary archipelago called El Hierro. At the end of the XV century, the Spaniards landed on it, who want to annex the island to their possessions. Among them, the protagonist of the work stands out - the young and promising lieutenant Gonzalo Baeza. He is enthusiastic, hoping to bring the local population, which he considers savages, to civilization. However, in reality, the island is in harmony, ruled by a magical tree called Garoe.
This is an amazing book dedicated to loss, love, true human courage.