SATZ, MARIO

SATZ, MARIO (1944– ), Argentine poet, author, and essayist. He was born in Coronel Pringles, Argentina. His extensive travels had significant influence on his writing. He lived in Israel for three years and from 1978 he lived in Barcelona, Spain. Satz is a prolific author of poetry, and narrative and nonfiction works that include books about Kabbalah and Jewish history. His early poetry is intimately connected to the natural world. In volumes such as Los cuatro elementos (1964), Las frutas (1970), Canon de polen (1976), Los peces, los pájaros, las flores (1976), and Las redes cristalinas (1985) he examines the beauty and power of nature in practically all its earthly manifestations. He is also the author of a vast novelistic series titled Planetarium, which consists of five novels that comprise a textual solar system. The novels Sol (1976), Luna (1977), and Tierra (1978) form a trilogy in which the author utilizes the cities of Jerusalem and Cuzco, Peru, as sites for examining Latin American history and culture together with Jewish tradition. The subsequent novels, Marte (1980) and Mercurio (1990), do not continue the story of the trilogy though they are part of the Planetarium project. His book Tres cuentos españoles (1988) takes on a much more focused perspective with the portrayal of multicultural 13th century Spain in which Christian, Muslim, and Jewish cultures existed and thrived side by side. His attention to detail and historical accuracy is remarkable. The novel Azahar (1996) continues with the same focus on Iberia, this time with a focus on religious-mystical traditions from Kabbalah to The Book of the Dead. The author's nonfiction works reveal his interest in Jewish history and mysticism and are evidence of his capability for profound theological thinking. Representative texts in this vein include Poética de la Kábala (1985), Judaísmo: 4,000 años de cultura (1982), and El dador alegre: ensayos de Kábala (1997). (Darrell B. Lockhart (2nd ed.)