Nicolás Yerovi

Leónidas Nicolás Ramón Yerovi Díaz (August 31, 1951 – January 19, 2025) was a Peruvian journalist, writer, playwright, and humorist. He was widely regarded as a leading figure in Peruvian political satire and was best known for reviving and directing the humor magazine Monos y Monadas, originally founded in 1905 by his grandfather, the poet Leonidas Yerovi. Over his career, he wrote and staged more than fifty theatrical works, primarily comedies characterized by social satire and political commentary.

Biography Yerovi was born in Lima to journalist and writer Leonidas P. Yerovi and Carmen Rosa Díaz Torres. He was the grandson of the poet and dramatist Leonidas Yerovi (1881–1917), a leading figure of early 20th-century Peruvian literature.

He attended the Colegio La Salle in Lima. In 1968, he enrolled at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), where he earned a bachelor's degree in Literature and Human Sciences in 1970. According to biographical sources, he later pursued doctoral studies in Hispanic literature and philology, focusing his research on the works of Martín Adán and Luis Hernández.

Due to its critical stance toward successive governments, the magazine faced political pressure and harassment. It ceased publication in 1992 following the self-coup carried out by President Alberto Fujimori, though it briefly reappeared in 2000. Yerovi later stated that he also received threats from the Maoist insurgent group Shining Path during the period of internal conflict in Peru.

He also reported having faced censorship during the Fujimori administration. In 1999, the Peruvian state agency Indecopi halted the publication of his novel Más allá del aroma due to a copyright dispute, which Yerovi described as politically motivated retaliation, a claim reported by contemporary media.

His work left a lasting mark on Peruvian satire and theater, particularly through his role in sustaining the tradition of political humor during periods of censorship and authoritarian rule. Lola (2022), musical comedy

Novels and non-fiction Los años inmóviles (1985; expanded ed. 1997) Más allá del aroma (2000) La casa de tantos (2001) El Perú de Yerovi: La leyenda de “Monos y Monadas” (2006) Diccionario de peruanos inolvidables (2009)