Date:  Tue, 29 Jul 1997 14:11:25 -0500
From:  Luanne von Schneidemesser <lvonschn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Re: (Garcia) Marquez

At 11:57 AM 7/29/97 -0400, Alan Baragona wrote:
>Ron Butters wrote:
>>
>> Alan Baragona writes:
>>
>> >I get annoyed when people refer
>> >to Gabriel Garcia
>> >Marquez as "Marquez" instead of
>> >"Garcia Marquez."
>>
>> Could somebody please explain the protocol here?
>>
>> As I recall, when I lived in Mexico, people explained to me that
"Garcia" was
>> the matronymic and "Marquez" the patronymic--and the matronymic was
>> frequently dropped in all but the most formal of situations. Is my memory
>> wrong? Or are there different practices in different parts of the
>> Spanish-speaking world? It seems to me that people frequently referred
to ech
>> other by their "last" names rather than their full family names.
>
>
>I don't know about Mexico, but I've lived in Colombia, where Garcia
>Marquez hails from, and there the first surname is the patronymic and
>the the second is the matronymic and is frequently dropped. Gabriel's
>father's name was Garcia. I am relatively sure that this is the
>practice throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Mexico, but I
>could be wrong.
>
>Alan B.


I was told by a friend from Argentina that they use only one surname there.
 Any Argentinians to inform us?

Luanne