Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 10:42:18 -0400

From: Ron Butters RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: (Garcia) Marquez



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.