(Buenos Aires, August 24, 1899 – Geneva, Switzerland, June 14, 1986)
Argentine poet, essayist and writer. He studies in Geneva and England. He lived in Spain from 1919 until his return to Argentina in 1921. He collaborated in French and Spanish literary magazines, where he published essays and manifestos. Returning to Argentina, he participated with Macedonio Fernández in the founding of the magazines Prisma and Prosa and signed the first ultraist manifesto. In 1923 he published his first book of poems, “Fervor de Buenos Aires”, and in 1935 “Historia universal de la infamía”, composed of a series of short stories (a format that he will use in later publications).
During the 1930s his fame grew in Argentina and he published various works in collaboration with Bioy Casares, among which “Anthology of Fantastic Literature” should be highlighted. During these years his literary activity expanded with literary criticism and translation of authors such as Virginia Woolf, Henri Michaux and William Faulkner. He was a librarian in Buenos Aires from 1937 to 1945, lecturer and professor of English literature at the University of Buenos Aires, president of the Argentine Society of Writers, member of the Argentine Academy of Letters and director of the National Library of Argentina from 1955 to 1974. In 1961 he shared the Formentor Prize with Samuel Beckett, awarded by the International Congress of Editors. Since 1964 he has published both in verse and prose.
Borges used a unique literary style, based on the interpretation of concepts such as time, space, destiny or reality. The symbology he uses refers to the authors who most influence him -William Shakespeare, Thomas De Quincey, Rudyard Kipling or Joseph Conrad-, in addition to the Bible, Jewish Kabbalah, early European literature, classical literature and philosophy.
He publishes books of poetry such as “The Other, the Same”, “Praise of the Shadow”, “The Gold of the Tigers”, “The Deep Rose”, “The Iron Coin”, and cultivates prose in titles such as “The Brodie Report” and “The Book of Sand.” In these years Borges also published books that mix prose and verse, books that combine theater, poetry and stories; Examples of this fusion are titles like “The Cipher” and “The Conspirators.”
He received numerous awards and recognitions during his career: National Literature Prize (Argentina), 1956; Formentor Award (Spain), 1961; Prize from the National Fund for the Arts (Argentina), 1963; Knight of the Most Distinguished Order of the British Empire, 1965; Gold Medal of the IX Poetry Prize (Florence), 1965; The Order of the Sun (Peru), 1965; Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, 1968; Jerusalem Prize (Israel), 1971; Honorary doctorate (Columbia University), 1971; Honorary doctorate (Yale University), 1971; Honorary doctorate (Oxford University), 1971; Honorary doctorate (University of Michigan), 1972; Alfonso Reyes Award (Mexico), 1973; Honorary doctorate (University of Santiago de Chile), 1976; Bernardo O'Higgins Order (Chile), 1976; Doctor honoris causa (Sorbonne University), 1977; Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spain), 1979; Gold Medal of the French Academy, 1979; Order of Merit (Federal Republic of Germany), 1979; Falcon Cross (Iceland), 1979; Honorary doctorate (Harvard University), 1981; Balzan Prize (Italy), 1981; Legion of Honor (France), 1983; Great Cross of Alfonso X the Wise (Spain), 1983.
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