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26
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Jorge Luis Borges, born in 1899 in Buenos Aires, began writing as a student and in 1918 joined an experimental literary group in Spain. By 1923 he had published his first poems. Despite losing his eyesight in the 1950s, he continued writing and served as director of the National Library of Argentina. He died in Geneva in 1986, a month after marrying Maria Kodama.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Jorge Luis Borges — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Jorge Luis Borges by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Jorge Luis Borges — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Born in 1899 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Luis Borges came from an upper-class family. His mother, Leonor Acevedo Suárez, and his father, Jorge Guillermo Borges Haslam, a lawyer, provided a literary environment. He studied in Buenos Aires, Cambridge, and Geneva, attending the Collège Calvin. His sister Norah Borges, an artist, influenced him; he began writing as a student and published his first poems in 1923.
Borges started writing as a student and in 1918 moved to Spain, where he joined an experimental literary group. Returning to Argentina in 1921, he published his first poems in 1923. He earned international recognition for his short stories, such as The Library of Babel and The Garden of Forking Paths, which destabilize notions of time and space. He served as director of the National Library of Argentina for many years. Despite losing his eyesight in the 1950s, he continued to write prolifically.
Borges married Elsa Helena Astete Millán in 1967; the marriage ended in divorce in 1970. In May 1986, a month before his death, he married Maria Kodama, with whom he had collaborated on his last book. He never had children. His sister Norah Borges was a painter. Those who knew him noted his courtly and thoughtful nature.
Borges’s influence is so distinct that his name became an adjective: Borgesian. His works, such as Ficciones and The Aleph, have been translated into many languages. He inspired authors like Umberto Eco, who based the character Jorge de Burgos in The Name of the Rose on Borges. He received numerous awards, including the Miguel de Cervantes Prize and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. He left a lasting impact on literature and philosophy.
The complete filmography of Jorge Luis Borges — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Jorge Luis Borges — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Jorge Luis Borges's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Jorge Luis Borges — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
The Truth Is That We Live Out Our Lives Putting off All That Can Be Put Off; Perhaps We All Know Deep Down That We Are Immortal and That Sooner or Later All Men Will Do and Know All Things.
It Is a Laborious Madness and an Impoverishing One, the Madness of Composing Vast Books Setting Out in Five Hundred Pages an Idea That Can Be Perfectly Related Orally in Five Minutes. the Better Way to Go About It Is to Pretend That Those Books Already Exist, and Offer a Summary, a Commentary on Them. I Have Chosen to Write Notes on Imaginary Books.
Philosophy Springs from Our Perplexity.
When I Began to Lose My Sight, the Last Color I Saw, or the Last Color, Rather, That Stood Out, Because of Course Now I Know That Your Coat Is Not the Same Color as This Table or of the Woodwork Behind You the Last Color to Stand Out Was Yellow Because It Is the Most Vivid of Colors. That’s Why You Have the Yellow Cab Company in the United States. at First They Thought of Making the Cars Scarlet. Then Somebody Found Out That at Night or When There Was a Fog That Yellow Stood Out in a More Vivid Way Than Scarlet. so You Have Yellow Cabs Because Anybody Can Pick Them Out. Now When I Began to Lose My Eyesight, When the World Began to Fade Away from Me, There Was a Time Among My Friends . . . Well They Made, They Poked Fun at Me Because I Was Always Wearing Yellow Neckties. Then They Thought I Really Liked Yellow, Although It Really Was Too Glaring. I Said, Yes, to You, but Not to Me, Because It Is the Only Color I Can See, Practically! I Live in a Gray World, Rather Like the Silver Screen World. but Yellow Stands Out.
Little-known facts about Jorge Luis Borges — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
His style is so distinct that his name has become an adjective, Borgesian, describing works that destabilize notions of time and space.
His favorite film director was Josef von Sternberg, whom he called a cinematic novelist.
He was an Argentine writer of short fiction and essays.
In response to repeated questions, Borges joked about the Swedish custom of not awarding him the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Biography and bibliography appear in Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Vol. 133, pp. 93-106, 2005.
He was the son of lawyer Jorge Guilhermo Borges and Leonor Acevedo.
His sister was Norah Borges, who lived from 1901 to 1998.
The character of the old blind librarian Jorge de Burgos in The Name of the Rose was based on Borges, according to author Umberto Eco.
He was the son of Leonor Acevedo Suárez.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Jorge Luis Borges.
Celebrities similar to Jorge Luis Borges — same craft, ranked by reach.
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