Mexico Wants Paz’s Ashes in Shrine
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MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government wants to keep the ashes of poet Octavio Paz in a special crypt at a Mexico City cemetery alongside other illustrious Mexicans.
Paz was an atheist, and his remains were cremated at a private ceremony late Monday and taken home by his widow, Marie Jose.
Paz, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1990, died Sunday night at age 84 after a long illness.
Gerardo Estrada, director of the National Fine Arts Institute, said the government wants to place Paz’s ashes in a special crypt in Mexico City’s Panteon de Dolores. But he said that would require voluminous paperwork and might take about a year to arrange.
The cemetery’s Rotunda of Illustrious Men contains the remains of 68 Mexicans, including painter Diego Rivera.
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