In 1928, his father came to Buenos Aires from Bessarabia. He is a proponent of political liberalism, and participates in seminars and conferences from the Freedom Foundation organized by Mario Vargas Llosa. Marcos Aguinis, has received, among others, the Premio Planeta (Spain), Fernando Jeno Award (Mexico), Meritorious Award for Culture of the Academy of Arts and Communication Sciences, National Award for Sociology, Hispanic Literature and Culture Institute of California Award (USA), National Book Award, Argentina Society of Writers Honor Award, Prana- vananda Swami Award, the Annual Silver Plaque EFE Agency for his contribution to the strengthening of Latin American culture and language, Esteban Echeverría Award (Free People), .J Award B. Alberdi (Hispanic American Center for Economic Research) and was appointed by France Chevalier of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the ti- tle of Doctor Honoris Causa of Tel Aviv University (2002), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2010) and he was named a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the American University in Washington, D.C. and Public Policy Scholar by the Wilson Center (Washington, USA). In 1995 Argentina's Writers Society conferred on him the Grand Prize of Honor for his work. In the field of human rights, he risked his life by courageously addressing controversial issues. During the last dictatorship, the circula- tion of his books was restricted, but some of them were successfully smuggled.