Event summary
This report is automatically generated by the DiploAI system from the audiovisual recording.
The Diplo Foundation's online session, "Cables, Nobels, and Novels: The Journey of Diplomacy and Literature," convened a global audience to delve into the intricate relationship between the art of diplomacy and the world of literature. Co-editors Amr Aljowaily and Stefano Baldi, who manage the Diplomats as Writers page, hosted the event, which drew participants from various continents, reflecting a strong collective interest in the subject matter.
The session aimed to satisfy the intellectual curiosity surrounding diplomats' involvement in literary pursuits. It was emphasised that the essence of diplomacy is intrinsically connected to writing, extending beyond official communications to encompass creative writing. The Diplomats as Writers initiative seeks to document and celebrate the literary contributions of diplomats, with the current focus on Egyptian, Italian, and Swiss diplomats. The organisers expressed their ambition to broaden the initiative to include literary works by diplomats from all 193 UN Member States, showcasing a commitment to cultural diversity and global representation.
Italian diplomat Paolo Trichilo presented insights from his book, which profiles eight diplomats who have been recipients of the Nobel Prize for Literature. These laureates include luminaries such as Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, and Octavio Paz. Trichilo's research adheres to strict criteria, concentrating on individuals who have attained distinction in both diplomatic and literary fields, thus offering an objective basis for examination. He also highlighted the value of reading a country's literature as a means for diplomats to gain a deeper understanding of its culture and mindset, a recommendation he passionately advocates.
Egyptian diplomat and novelist Mohamed Tawfik discussed the delicate balance between maintaining a diplomatic career and pursuing literary ambitions. He addressed the potential implications for a diplomat's professional image if their writing is perceived as conflicting with their diplomatic duties. Tawfik explored the significance of language and narrative in both domains, noting the contrast between diplomats' pursuit of clear, unambiguous communication and writers' embrace of diverse interpretations and challenges to established narratives.
The discussion also touched on the changing dynamics of diplomacy in the era of digital communication, with public diplomacy and social media eroding the traditional boundaries between private and official domains. This transformation allows diplomats greater latitude to engage in public literary activities. Jovan Kurbalija, head of the Diplo Foundation, contributed insights on the impact of artificial intelligence on writing and the management of knowledge within the diplomatic sphere, suggesting that AI could unlock vast repositories of diplomatic expertise.
The event concluded with a pledge to continue the series, with the next meeting scheduled for October 2nd. The series promises to further explore the fascinating intersection of diplomacy and literature. Participants were encouraged to stay engaged and contribute to the ongoing conversation, reinforcing the session's role as a platform for intellectual exchange and cultural diplomacy.
Event description
Event recording on Diplo’s YouTube channel
The event was featured on See News, Ahram Online. Giornale diplomatico, Il Corriere nazionale, La Gazzetta italo-brasiliana and Mondo Salento.
Join us at Diplo’s first in the series of Diplomats as Writers online events, on July 9th 17.00 to 18.30 CEST for a lively discussion by two leading diplomats on both shores of the Mediterranean, North and South.
Italian Amb. Paolo Trichilo will introduce his recent book Diplomacy and Literature: The Eight Diplomats Who Won the Nobel Prize in Literature (2023) and Egyptian Amb. Mohamed Tawfik will speak about his creative writings of three novels published in Arabic.
The discussion will be moderated by Amb. Amr Aljowaily Strategic Advisor to the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Amb. Stefano Baldi Permanent Representative of Italy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, editors of Diplomats as Writers.
The event is now over
The eight diplomats who won the Nobel Prize in literature | Timeline
Note: This excerpt is from Jovan Kurbalija’s research on diplomats as writers, which he started in 2000s by focusing on Ivo Andric and other diplomats, Nobel prize winners for literature. He never completed a manuscript on three aspects of diplomats as writers: personal life, literature, and diplomatic career. Now, with the help of AI, centred around KaiZen’s publishing approach, Kurbalija will finalise this book as an example of combining human and artificial intelligence. If you are interested to follow this ‘in vivo’ experiment on how to deal with the text, a central tool of diplomacy, in the AI era, please subscribe via ai@diplomacy.edu.
1. Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1889 | Born in Vicuña, Chile |
| 1904 | Published some early poems, such as Ensoñaciones (“Dreams”), Carta Íntima (“Intimate Letter”) and Junto al Mar (“By the Sea”), in the local newspaper El Coquimbo |
| 1910 | Obtained her coveted teaching certification |
| 1906-1912 | Taught, successively, in three schools near La Serena, then in Barrancas, then Traiguén |
| 1912 | Moved to work in a liceo, or high school, in Los Andes, where she stayed for six years and often visited Santiago |
| 1914 | Her poem Sonetos de la muerte won first prize in a national literary contest Juegos Florales |
| 1918 | Pedro Aguirre Cerda appointed her as the director of liceo in Punta Arenas. |
| 1922 | – Accepted an invitation to work in Mexico, with that country’s Minister of Education, José Vasconcelos. – Published Desolación (Despair) |
| 1923 | Published Lecturas para Mujeres (Readings for Women), |
| 1924 | Published Ternura (Tenderness) |
| 1925 | Represented Latin America in the newly formed Institute for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations |
| 1926-1932 | -Lived primarily in France and Italy – Worked for the League for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations, attending conferences of women and educators throughout Europe and occasionally in the Americas |
| 1930-1931 | Held a visiting professorship at Barnard College of Columbia University |
| 1931 | Worked briefly at Middlebury College and Vassar College |
| 1932-1933 | Gave conferences or wrote in University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras |
| 1932 | Served as a consul from 1932 until her death, working in Naples, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice, Petrópolis, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Veracruz, Rapallo, and New York |
| 1945 | Became the first Latin American, and fifth woman, to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. |
| 1957 | Died of pancreatic cancer in Hempstead Hospital in New York City |
2. Alexis Leger, aka Saint-John Perse (1887-1975)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1887 | Born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe |
| 1899 | His family returned to metropolitan France and settled in Pau |
| 1910 | Began studying law at the University of Bordeaux |
| 1911 | Published his first book of poetry, Éloges |
| 1914 | – Joined the French diplomatic service, and spent some of his first years in Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom – Served as a press corps attaché for the government during WWI |
| 1916-1921 | Served as a secretary to the French Embassy in Peking |
| 1921 | – Took part in a world disarmament conference in Washington – Recruited by by Aristide Briand, the then-Prime Minister of France as his assistant |
| 1924 | Wrote Anabase |
| 1933-1940 | Served as General Secretary of the French Foreign Office (Quai d’Orsay), with the rank of ambassador. |
| 1938 | Accompanied the French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier at the Munich Conference in 1938, where the cession of Czechoslovakia to Germany was agreed to |
| 1940 | Dismissed from his post right after the fall of France in May 1940, because he was a known anti-Nazi. |
| 1940 | Left France for the United States in 1940 and was deprived of his citizenship and possessions by the Vichy regime |
| 1941-1945 | Served as a literary adviser to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. |
| 1942 | Published Exil (Exile) |
| 1943 | Published Poème l’Etrangère (Poem to a Foreign Lady) and Pluies (Rains) |
| 1944 | Published Neiges (Snows) |
| 1946 | Published Vents (Winds) |
| 1950 | Retired officially with the title of Ambassadeur de France |
| 1957 | Published Amers (Seamarks) |
| 1960 | -Published Chronique (Chronicle) – Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature |
| Till 1967 | Made the U.S his permanent residence |
| 1975 | Died in Presqu’île-de-Giens, France |
3. Ivo Andrić (1892-1975)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1892 | Born in in the village of Dolac, near Travnik in Austrian-occupied Bosnia |
| 1909 | Studied philosophy at the Universities of Zagreb, Vienna, and Cracow |
| 1911 | Elected the first president of the Serbo-Croat Progressive Movement (Serbo-Croatian: Srpsko-Hrvatska Napredna Organizacija; SHNO), a Sarajevo-based secret society that promoted unity and friendship between Serb and Croat youth and opposed the Austro-Hungarian occupation |
| 1914 | Served as one of the contributors to Hrvatska mlada lirika (Young Croatian Lyrics) |
| 1919 | -Published a books of lyrical prose entitled Nemiri (Anxieties) – Appointed with a secretarial position at the Ministry of Religion |
| 1920 | – Published his first novella, Put Alije Djerzeleza (The Trip of Alija Djerzelez) – Assigned to the Foreign Ministry’s mission at the Vatican |
| 1921 | – Took part in a world disarmament conference in Washington – Recruited by by Aristide Briand, the then-Prime Minister of France as his assistant |
| 1923 | Received a doctorate in letters from the University of Graz |
| 1924 | Entered the Yugoslav diplomatic service. The last diplomatic post he held was that of Yugoslav minister in Berlin |
| 1930 | Sent to Switzerland as part of Yugoslavia’s permanent delegation to the League of Nations in Geneva |
| 1931 | Named deputy delegate |
| 1933 | Decorated with the Legion of Honour by France |
| 1935 | Named head of the political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| 1924, 1931 1936 | Published three books of short stories under the same title, Pripovetke (Stories) during the period between the two world wars |
| 1937 | Became the assistant to Milan Stojadinović, Yugoslavia’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. |
| 1941 | Returned to Belgrade and lived there in seclusion throughout the Second World War when Germany invaded Yugoslavia |
| 1945 | Published Na Drini cuprija (The Bridge on the Drina), Travnicka hronika (Bosnian Story), and Gospodjica (The Woman from Sarajevo). |
| 1948 | Published Nove pripovetke (New Stories) |
| 1952 | Decorated by the Presidium of the National Assembly for his services to the Yugoslav people |
| 1954 | Published Prokleta avilija (Devil’s Yard) |
| 1960 | Published another collection of stories, Lica (Faces) |
| 1961 | -Published Zapisi o Goji, (Notes on Goya) – Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 1962 | Received the Order of the Republic in 1962, as well as the 27 July Award of Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1972 | Received Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour |
| 1975 | Died in Belgrade |
4. George Seferis (1900-1971)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1900 | Born in Urla near Smyrna in Asia Minor, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir, Turkey) |
| 1914 | Moved to Athens with his family, where Seferis completed his secondary school education |
| 1918-1925 | Continued his studies in Paris, studying law at the Sorbonne. |
| 1925 | Returned to Athens |
| 1926 | Admitted to the Royal Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| 1931 | Published first poem of Strophe (Turning Point) |
| 1932 | Published E Sterna (The Cistern) |
| 1931-1934 | Held posts in England |
| 1936-1938 | Held posts in Albania |
| 1937 | Accompanied the Free Greek Government in exile to Crete, Egypt, South Africa, and Italy during WWII |
| 1942 | Published Tetradio Gymnasmaton (Book of Exercises) and Emerologio Katastromatos (Logbook I) |
| 1944 | -Returned to liberated Athens – Published Emerologio Katastromatos B (Logbook II) |
| 1947 | Published Kihle (Thrush) |
| 1948-1950 | Continued to serve in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held diplomatic posts in Ankara, Turkey |
| 1951-1953 | Served in London |
| 1953 | Appointed as the Minister to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq |
| 1955 | Published Emerologio Katastromatos C (Logbook III) |
| 1957 | Appointed as Royal Greek Ambassador to the United Kingdom from |
| 1962 | Published a book of essays, Dokimes (Essays) |
| 1963 | Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 1966 | Published Tria Krypha Poiemata (Three Secret Poems) |
| 1969 | Made a statement on the BBC World Service against the repressive nationalist, right-wing Regime of the Colonels who ruled with widespread censorship, political detentions and torture |
| 1971 | Died in Athens |
5. Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1899 | Born in Guatemala |
| 1920 | Participated in the uprising against the dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera |
| 1922 | Founded the Popular University, a community project whereby “the middle class was encouraged to contribute to the general welfare by teaching free courses to the underprivileged” with other students |
| 1923 | -Obtained his law degree at the University of San Carlos and received the Gálvez Prize for his thesis on Indian problems -Left for Europe |
| 1924 | -Studied ethnology at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) -Served as correspondent for several important Latin American newspapers, he travelled in all the Western European countries, in the Middle East, in Greece, and in Egypt. |
| 1928 | Returned for a short time to Guatemala, where he lectured at the Popular University. These lecture were collected in a volume entitled La arquitectura de la vida nueva (Architecture of the New Life), |
| 1930 | Published Leyendas de Guatemala (Legends of Guatemala) in Paris |
| 1936 | Published his first volume of poems Sonetos (Sonnets), |
| 1944 | Appointed as cultural attaché to the Guatemalan Embassy in Mexico by president Professor Juan José Arévalo |
| 1946 | Published El señor presidente (The President). |
| 1947 | Went to Argentina as cultural attaché to the Guatemalan Embassy |
| 1949 | -Published In Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize) – Obtained a ministerial post at the Guatemalan Embassy |
| 1950 | Published Viento fuerte ( The Cyclone), |
| 1954 | -Published El papa verde (The Green Pope) – Expelled from the country by Carlos Castillo Armas because of his support for Árbenz – Stripped of his Guatemalan citizenship and went to live in Buenos Aires and Chile |
| 1960 | Published Los ojos de los enterrados (The Eyes of the Interred). |
| 1963 | Published Mulata de tal (Mulata). |
| 1966 | Given back his Guatemalan citizenship by democratically elected President Julio César Méndez Montenegro |
| 1966-1970 | Served as ambassador to France |
| 1967 | Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 1974 | Died in Madrid, Spain |
6. Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1904 | Born in the town of Parral in Chile. |
| 1906 | Moved to the town of Temuco with his family, where he spent his childhood and youth |
| 1917 | -Began to contribute some articles to the daily “La Mañana” – Published his first poem Entusiasmo y Perseverancia ((Enthusiasm and Perseverance) |
| 1920 | Became a contributor to the literary journal “Selva Austral” under the pen name of Pablo Neruda |
| 1921 | Moved to Santiago to study French at the Universidad de Chile |
| 1923 | Published his first book Crepusculario |
| 1924 | Published Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada (Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair) |
| 1927-1935 | Put in charge of a number of honorary consulships, which took him to Burma, Ceylon, Java, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Madrid. |
| 1937 | Published his collection of poems España en el Corazón (Spain in Our Hearts) |
| 1939 | -Rewrote Canto General de Chile, transforming it into an epic poem about the whole South American continent – Appointed consul for the Spanish emigration, residing in Paris. |
| 1942 | Appointed Consul General in Mexico |
| 1943 | Returned to Chile, also joining the Communist Party of Chile |
| 1947 | Had to live underground in his own country for two years due to his protests against President González Videla’s repressive policy against striking miners |
| 1949 | Left for Europe |
| 1945 | Elected senator of the Republic |
| 1950 | – Published Canto General in Mexico – Awarded the International Peace Prize |
| 1952 | Returned to Chile |
| 1953 | Awarded Lenin Peace Prize |
| 1970 | -Nominated as a candidate for the Chilean presidency, but ended up giving his support to Salvador Allende -Nominated as the Chilean ambassador to France, serve till 1972 |
| 1971 | Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 1973 | Died in Santiago, Chile |
7. Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1911 | Born in Seteiniai, Lithuania |
| 1930 | Published Kompozycja / Composition and Podróż / Voyage in the 9th issue of Alma Mater Vilnensis. |
| 1934 | -Received his law degree from Stefan Batory University – Published his first volum of poems Trzy zimy (Three Winters) |
| 1945 | served as cultural attaché of the newly formed People’s Republic of Poland in Paris and Washington, D.C. |
| 1951 | -Attacked and censored in Poland – Obtained political asylum in France |
| 1953 | Published Zniewolony umysł (The Captive Mind); |
| 1960 | Emigrated to the United States |
| 1961 | Began a professorship in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Berkeley |
| 1970 | Became a U.S citizen |
| 1980 | Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 2004 | Died in Kraków, Poland |
8. Octavio Paz (1914-1998)
| YEAR | EVENT |
| 1914 | Born in Mexico City |
| 1931 | Published his first poems, including “Cabellera |
| 1932 | Founded his first literary review, Barandal. |
| 1933 | Published Luna Silvestre (“Wild Moon”), a collection of poems. |
| 1937 | – Abandoned his law studies and left Mexico City for Yucatán to work at a school in Mérida, set up for the sons of peasants and workers -Travelled to Valencia, Spain, to participate in the Second International Congress of Anti-Fascist Writers |
| 1938 | Return to Mexico to found the journal, Taller (Workshop), a magazine which signaled the emergence of a new generation of writers in Mexico as well as a new literary sensibility. |
| 1943 | Travelled to the USA on a Guggenheim Fellowship where he became immersed in Anglo-American Modernist poetry. |
| 1945 | -Wrote his fundamental study of Mexican identity, The Labyrinth of Solitude – Entered the Mexican diplomatic service, and was assigned for a time to New York City later Paris |
| 1952 | Travelled to India as the Mexican ambassador later to Tokyo, as chargé d’affaires. |
| 1953 | Assigned to Geneva, Switzerland. |
| 1954 | Return to Mexico |
| 1957 | Published “Piedra de sol” (Sunstone) and Libertad bajo palabra (Liberty under Oath), a compilation of his poetry |
| 1959 | Sent to Paris |
| 1962 | Named Mexico’s ambassador to India where he completed several works, including El mono gramático (The Monkey Grammarian) and Ladera este (Eastern Slope) |
| 1968 | Resigned from the diplomatic service in protest of the Mexican government’s massacre of student demonstrators in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco |
| 1970 | Founded magazine Plural (1970–1976) with a group of liberal Mexican and Latin American writers. |
| 1970-1974 | Lectured at Harvard University |
| 1977 | Won the Jerusalem Prize for literature on the theme of individual freedom. |
| 1990 | Awarded with the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| 1998 | Died in Mexico City |
