Alida Cordero, widow of writer Julio Ramón Ribeyro, dies

The Peruvian and Latin American literary world is in mourning after the recent death of Alida Corderowidow of the famous writer Julio Ramón Ribeyro. This morning, Cordero suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. The news has shocked family, friends and admirers of Ribeyro’s legacy, who remember Alida not only as the writer’s life partner, but also as a key figure in the preservation and promotion of his work. The information was confirmed to El Comercio by Jorge Coaguila, biographer of Julio Ramón Ribeyro.

Alida Cordero met Julio Ramón Ribeyro in 1961, when she was 19 years old. He was born on October 9, 1941. With ancestors from Tarma, he lived in Lima on Petit Thouars Avenue. In an excerpt from the book by the writer Jorge Coaguila, “Ribeyro, una vida,” Cordero recalled her adolescence: “I have always been very thin, and as a teenager I was even thinner. So I had a complex, because in Peru, at that time, women had to have hips, a waist and a bust. And I was a stick. I remember that I went to a party and I couldn’t dance. That made me decide to know more than everyone else. I started reading. I read any book that fell into my hands. I had always read, but from the age of 14, 15, I read a lot. I loved literature.”.

She studied Literature at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and then studied Psychology. At La Casona, the former headquarters of this center of studies, she became friends with the poets Alejandro Romualdo, Juan Gonzalo Rose, Francisco Paco Bendezú, Hugo Neira, Reynaldo Naranjo and César Calvo. Although she never wanted to be a writer, she deeply admired the classics of literature.

Without finishing her studies, she travelled to France thanks to a friend. Among those who came to the French capital with her was Javier Heraud, who introduced her in Paris to Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Ramón, whom she would marry some time later. The couple, who shared many years in Paris, lived a life marked by their love of literature and culture. Ribeyro, known for his lucid and sensitive style of narration, always had Alida as a constant source of support.

In a 2002 interview, Vargas Llosa recalled, referring to Julio Ramón: “I saw the birth of his relationship with Alida, which was somewhat complicated at first, because she didn’t make things easy. We played the ‘truth game’ among our group, in which we tried to tell each other the truth, and the person being questioned had to accept or reject what was proposed. It was a somewhat perverse game; I don’t know how we didn’t all end up fighting. In that game we discovered that Julio Ramón had been trying to woo Alida, who had just arrived in Paris. One day, in the middle of the game, Carlos Meneses asked Alida: ‘What would you do if Julio Ramón had started to woo you? ’ And she answered: ‘He has already started. ’ Julio Ramón got very nervous, started lighting cigarettes one after another, and said: ‘Ah, so… have I already started? ’ I don’t remember the details very well, but when they asked Alida again, she said that he had confessed his love to her seven times. In the end, they ended up getting married and her life changed. [la de Ribeyro]”.

Following the writer’s death in 1994, Alida took on the task of safeguarding his legacy, ensuring that new generations would know and appreciate the work of one of the greatest Peruvian short story writers. During her lifetime, she ensured the dissemination of his work and organized various events in his honor. Her commitment to her husband’s legacy was unwavering, and her contribution to the literary world is widely recognized.

In addition to her role in preserving her husband’s work, Alida Cordero had a successful career as an art dealer. She worked in a gallery and trained at the Louvre, organizing international exhibitions and making important sales, such as that of a van Gogh painting. Her professional success allowed the couple to enjoy a comfortable life in Paris, where they lived in an apartment in the exclusive Parc Monceau.