Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Popular French-Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska has said that she was raped by a fellow author before falling pregnant with his child who he never met.
The 87-year-old writer and journalist, who was honoured with the Cervantes Literary Award in 2013, said in her latest book ‘El Amante Polaco’ (‘The Polish Lover’) that she was raped by Mexican writer and academic Juan Jose Arreola.
According to Poniatowska, her former friend Arreola, who died in 2001, raped her in 1954 and she then gave birth to a boy who never got to meet his father.
She said: “It was known to a lot of people that Arreola was a married man with three children who was 20 years old than me.”
The Mexican writer was also accused of similar sexual offences by the poet and pianist Tita Valencia and Arreola’s family said in a statement: “With sadness and regret we have read about the recent statements from two well-known authors who had intimate relationships with our beloved father and grandfather.
“With respect to them and Juan Jose, who is not here to defend himself, we have decided to remain silent. However, the truth behind that time has turned into an unfair narrative of false information that cannot be avoided.”
Poniatowska, who was born in the French capital Paris, has lived in Mexico since 1942 when her mother moved there during World War II.
She published her first novel in 1955 and became a Mexican citizen in 1969.
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