Ernesto de la Peña

{{for|the Filipino lyricist|Ernesto Dela Peña}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}

{{expand Spanish|topic=bio|date=August 2013}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Ernesto de la Peña

| image = Ernesto de la Peña en su biblioteca.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1927|11|21}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2012|09|10|1927|11|21}}

| occupation = Linguist, writer, polygraph

| awards = National Prize for Arts and Sciences (2003)
Alfonso Reyes International Prize (2008){{cite web |url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/533480.html |title=Obtiene Ernesto de la Peña el Premio Alfonso Reyes 2008 |date=2008-08-27 |publisher=El Universal |language=es |trans-title=Ernesto de la Peña receives the 2008 Alfonso Reyes Award |access-date=2024-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910034857/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/533480.html |archive-date=2008-09-10}}
Menéndez Pelayo International Prize (2012)
Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (2012)

| birth_place = Mexico City, Mexico{{cite web |url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/869358.html |title=Luto en cultura; muere Ernesto de la Peña |date=2012-09-10 |publisher=El Universal |language=es |trans-title=Mourning in culture; Ernesto de la Peña dies |access-date=2024-09-03 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120911160531/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/869358.html |archive-date=2012-09-11}}

| death_place = Mexico City, Mexico

| language = Spanish

| alma_mater = School of Philosophy and Letters, UNAM

}}

Ernesto de la Peña ({{IPA|es|eɾˈnesto ðe la ˈpeɲa}}; 21 November 1927 – 10 September 2012) was a Mexican writer, translator and cultural advocate. De la Peña was also a linguist and polyglot who studied thirty-three languages, including Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Sanskrit.{{cite news |title=Mexican Writer Ernesto de la Peña Dies |url=http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=573839&CategoryId=13003 |work=Latin American Herald Tribune |date=10 September 2012 |access-date=19 September 2012 |archive-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929041219/http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=573839&CategoryId=13003 |url-status=dead }} He joined the Mexican Academy of the Language in 1993 and was a member of the Royal Spanish Academy.

He studied classical literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).{{cite news|title=Mexico's Famous Writer Ernesto De La Pena Dies at 84 |url=http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsindex.php?id=693682 |work=Bernama |date=11 September 2012|access-date=19 September 2012}} His most famous books included The Stratagems of God, published in 1988; The Indelible Borrelli Case in 1992; Mineralogy For Intruders in 1999; and The Transfigured Rose, also released in 1999.

De la Peña was the recipient of the National José Pagés Llergo Prize for Cultural Journalism, the National Prize for Arts and Sciences for linguistics in 2003, and the Fine Arts Gold Medal in 2007. In August 2012, Mexican Ambassador to Spain Francisco Javier Ramírez Acuña accepted the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize on Ernesto de la Peña's behalf, as the writer was too ill to travel to Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander, Spain, to accept it in person. He received the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor, Mexico's highest honor, in a post mortem ceremony in 2012.{{cite web |title=Medalla de Honor Belisario Domínguez 2012 |url=http://www.revista.ibd.senado.gob.mx/index.php/PluralidadyConsenso/article/view/57/0 |publisher=Senado de la Republica |access-date=August 28, 2020}}

Ernesto de la Peña died of an illness in Mexico City on 10 September 2012, at the age of 84.