Saravia's Life: Living with McCune-Albright and Lion's Face Syndrome
Montevideo, Uruguay, January 27, 1970 - Hollywood, CA., December 12, 2008

Mauricio SaraviaWelcome to the official site of Mauricio Saravia. You will find here, 20 sections with an almost complete compilation of the different expressions of his artwork: paintings, drawings, graphic designs artistic/abstract photography, electronic music tracks, short films, newspaper and magazine articles about him, his personal photos, his quotes and comments that some of the many persons who crossed his brief life or were part of it, made about him.

You will also have a glimpse of his life story, and the reasons why Mauricio called the attention of so many journalists, TV reporters and film producers. If you read some of the press articles, watch his short videos and the interviews with him in this site, you will understand why there is a documentary film about him, a Mauricio Saravia Art Academy in Denver, Colorado, a children's book telling his story, written by Sean Hepburn Ferrer, and a Mauricio Saravia Achievement Award at Metropolitan Denver University and a Mauricio Saravia Poetry Series every April, celebrating the month of poetry.

Mauricio Saravia was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, South America but his art took him to the United States in June 1998. He lived for a few months in New York and then, moved to Denver, Colorado where he lived for six years; since October 1998 to December 2004, when he went to live in Los Angeles. He lived in Hollywood for four years until he passed away on December 12, 2008. His ashes are still there, in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Mauricio started drawing when he was just a small boy, writing at eighteen, painting at nineteen and he went on expressing himself through different kinds of art expressions such as music, photography and graphic designs,the rest of his life.

He had his first art-exhibition at twenty and he published his first poetry book at twenty one. At the same time, his love for technology, took him to start learning the first computer programs to create graphic designs and electronic music in Montevideo, his home town, in 1990.

All this wouldn't be so remarkable in itself if it were not for the fact that Saravia was born with a genetic mutation that causes pain and limitations, for which there is no cure or treatment and doctors could only do surgeries to prolong his life a little: McCune-Albright Syndrome, also abbreviated M.A.S.

His case was one of the most severe ones, deforming his spine and also his face, causing what is known? as Lion's Face Syndrome. He went through 8 major surgeries, 4 of which were done in Uruguay and 4 in the U.S.A. His first surgery, at five, was in his skull, in Montevideo Uruguay, during which he was dead for some minutes and he lost his left sight. After that he became a patient at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Springfield, Mass.,where he went for some months every year for surgery or check up. He was under four other surgeries there, being dead again for some minutes at eighteen.

Doctors said that his life would be short, during a medical panel to study his case, in Boston, Massachusetts, when he was only nine.

He overheard that and since then, he felt that he might die any moment but instead of getting scared or depressed he decided to enjoy life the best he could and do what he loved most: art creation.
Mauricio lived until one month before becoming 39 and he not only enjoyed life and became an artist but he also became a role model for other persons who could be in a similar situation as his. His life story can also be an important example for healthy people who usually don't understand what life is like, for those who suffer syndromes that make them, somehow, different to the average.

As Mauricio suffered bullying, mocking and sarcasm at school and high school, I encourage teachers to use his example of life to teach students all over the world and let them know that every child should be respected and treated as equal.

I want to express our deep thanks to the photographers who captured his paintings and his own image for ever. Some of them were Randy Parietti,Todd Pierson, Maria Brunner Ventura, Faye Sadou,Victor Aguilar, Paul Zollo,Vinnie Ratcliff, and Diego Garcia.

I hope you enjoy the many sections of this site, clicking on the three buttons that are on top of each inside page;? and please, bookmark it because I am sure you will not be able to go through it in a day and because we will go on updating news and events.

For any other information, please, write to marisadamele1@gmail.com


Thank you for visiting Mauricio Saravia's official site!