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Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator (1899-1986) · Argentina · Writers · Died at 86

Jorge Luis Borges is read about 3,502 times a day, in 150 languages.

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He wrote labyrinths, mirrors, infinite libraries, and dreams folding into dreams - short fictions that remade what a story could be. By the time the world caught up, Borges was already blind, navigating his own fiction by memory.

WritersWriter / AuthorScreenwritingLiteraturePoetryArgentinaAmericas20th Century

A life in dates

2000Harto The BorgesDocumentary about him, 2000 film by Eduardo Montes BradleyDirected by Eduardo Montes-BradleyIMDb1999National Book Critics Circle Award in CriticismAward1997commemorative plaque to Jorge Luis BorgesTribute, commemorative plaque in Madrid1989Shakespeare's MemoryBook published after his death, book by Jorge Luis Borges1987There Are More ThingsBook published after his death, short story by Jorge Luis Borges1986Died14 June 19861984Diamond Konex AwardAwardKnight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicAward1983Knight of the Legion of HonourAward1980Prix mondial Cino Del DucaAward1979Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of GermanyAwardGrand Officer of the Order of the FalconAwardWorld Fantasy Award for Life AchievementAward1976Edgar AwardsAward1973Alfonso Reyes International PrizeAward1967Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian RepublicAward1965Knight Commander of the Order of the British EmpireAward1962Commandeur des Arts et des LettresAward1944Gran Premio de Honor de la SADEAward1939“Everything would be in its blind volumes.”In their words"The Universal Library" (1939)

1935“Reading … is an activity subsequent to writing: more resigned, more civil, more intellectual.”In their wordsUniversal History of Infamy [Historia universal de la infamia] (1935) Preface

“The vast ineptitude of his pretense would be a convincing proof that this was no fraud.”In their words"The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro", in A Universal History of Iniquity (1935); tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998)

“Your unforgivable sins do not allow you to see my splendor.”In their words"The masked dyer Hakim of Merv" [El tintorero enmascarado Hakim de Merv] Universal History of Infamy (1935); also translated as "Hakim,

1930“That one individual should awaken in another memories that belong to still a third is an obvious paradox.”In their wordsEvaristo Carriego (1930) Ch. 2

1923“If the pages of this book contain some successful verse, the reader must excuse me the discourtesy of having usurped it first.”In their words"To the Reader" ["A quien leyere"], preface to Fervor of Buenos Aires [Fervor de Buenos Aires] (1923)

1899Born24 August 1899

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Jorge Luis Borges 1951, by Grete Stern (full)Jorge Luis Borges 1951, by Grete Stern (full)40. Adolf Hoffmeister, Jorge Luis Borges, 196540. Adolf Hoffmeister, Jorge Luis Borges, 1965Abreu Sodré e Jorge Luis Borges (1970)Abreu Sodré e Jorge Luis Borges (1970)Adolfo Bioy Casares (cropped)Adolfo Bioy Casares (cropped)Archivo General de la Nación Argentina 1962 Jorge Luis Borges es nombrado miembro de la Academia Argentina de LetrasArchivo General de la Nación Argentina 1962 Jorge Luis Borges es nombrado miembro de la Academia Argentina de LetrasBen molar borgesBen molar borgesBioy Casares, Ocampo y BorgesBioy Casares, Ocampo y BorgesBookshelf (cropped)Bookshelf (cropped)

In their own words 10

,
Jorge Luis Borges
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Everything would be in its blind volumes.

    1939, "The Universal Library" (1939), Own words

  2. Reading … is an activity subsequent to writing: more resigned, more civil, more intellectual.

    1935, Universal History of Infamy [Historia universal de la infamia] (1935) Preface, Own words

  3. The vast ineptitude of his pretense would be a convincing proof that this was no fraud.

    1935, "The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro", in A Universal History of Iniquity (1935); tr. Andrew Hurley, Collected Fictions (1998), Own words

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Awards

National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism1999
Honorary Doctorate of the University of Murcia1985
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic1984
Grand Officer of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword1984
Diamond Konex Award1984
Knight of the Legion of Honour1983
Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise1983
Prix mondial Cino Del Duca1980
Balzan Prize1980
Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany1979
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement1979
Miguel de Cervantes Prize1979
Grand Officer of the Order of the Falcon1979
Doctor Honoris Causa from the Paris-Sorbonne University1978
Commander of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins1976
Edgar Awards1976
Alfonso Reyes International Prize1973
Jerusalem Prize1971
Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic1967
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire1965
Commander of the Order of the Sun of Peru1965
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres1962
Prix Formentor1961
Gran Premio de Honor de la SADE1944
Honorary Doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
Honorary Doctorate of the National University of San Marcos

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Jorge Luis Borges

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About this person

Born in Buenos Aires in 1899, Borges moved to Switzerland in 1914 and studied at the Collège de Genève, travelling widely across Europe before returning to Argentina in 1921. He published poems and essays in surrealist journals while working as a librarian and lecturer, then released his defining story collections - Ficciones and El Aleph - in the 1940s, building fictions from archives, chance, and mythology. In 1955 he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires, by which time he was completely blind. The 1961 Formentor Prize, shared with Samuel Beckett, brought international attention; translations multiplied through the 1960s as the Latin American Boom rose around him. He died in Geneva in 1986, the city to which he'd dedicated his final work.

Country
Argentina
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1899 to 1986 · aged 86

In common with Jorge

Adolfo Bioy CasaresAlso in Invasion (1969)Maria Zilda BethlemAlso in The Intruder (1979)Leopoldo Torre NilssonAlso in Days of Hate (1954)Francisco PetroneAlso in Man on Pink Corner (1962)Catherine SalviatAlso in Emma Zunz (1969)José de AbreuAlso in The Intruder (1979)

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