An Everyday God

David Viñas grew up in Buenos Aires in a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. He studied at the University of Buenos Aires and came to prominence when his novel Un Dios cotidiano (1957) won the Gerchunoff Prize. In addition to novels, Viñas wrote short stories, plays, and essays. He was a professor of literature at his alma mater and was considered a major Latin American intellectual, winning the Premio Nacional de Literatura in both 1962 and 1967. Much of his writing was leftist social and political criticism, primarily emphasizing Argentine history, particularly the dynamics of power, immigration, cultural oppression, and Jewish identity. During the 1976–1983 military dictatorship, Viñas lived in exile. Two of his children were disappeared during those years.