Elena
Poniatowska

Elena Poniatowska was born in France, in 1933. Her mother was the daughter of wealthy Mexican aristocrats and her father, a French count of Polish origin. In 1942, Poniatowska and her family moved to Mexico to escape war-time deprivations.

She began her writing career as a journalist. Her first job involved writing society news for the daily newspaper Excelsior. Soon, she moved on to interviewing cultural and political figures, such as muralist Diego Rivera. Most of these writings are collected in Palabras cruzadas, (1961). Through journalism and access to her interviewees, Poniatowska began to understand the Mexican society, its politics and its institutions.

She is best known for her gripping account of a massacre that took place in 1968 on Mexico City’s Plaza de Tres Culturas, also known as Tlatelolco.