Jorge Borges

Jorge Luis Borges was born into an intellectual family in Buenos Aires, in 1899. During his youth, the family lived in several countries including Spain and Switzerland. Because of his British ancestry, Borges learned English before Spanish, yet also acquired French and German at a young age. After World War I, Borges returned to Buenos Aires where he began his literary career, publishing in periodicals such as the prestigious Martin Fierro and Sur. In 1923, Borges published his first collection of poetry, entitled Fervor de Buenos Aires.

During the 1930’s, Borges gained fame as a critic, a columnist, and a translator, translating such authors as Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Herman Melville. In late 1938 after the death of his father, Borges suffered a traumatic blow to the head, from which he nearly died. As a consequence of the ordeal, Borges also made a shift in style, and subsequently began to garner more attention. In 1941 The Garden of Forking Paths was published, Borges’ first anthology of short stories, but it was not until 1948 that the collection was translated into English and Borges would begin receiving international recognition. In 1961, he was awarded the international Prix Formentor (along with Samuel Beckett), his first international prize. His most notable works include the anthologies Ficciones (1944), El Aleph (1949), and El Hacedor (1960). Borges died in Geneva, Switzerland in 1986.