Author Biography
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       Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 - June 14, 1986) was an Argentine writer who is considered to be one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. Best known in the English speaking world for his short stories and fictive essays, Borges was also a poet, critic, and scholar. Borges was born in Buenos Aires. Borges's mother, Leonor Acevedo Suarez, learned English from her husband and worked professionally as a translator. Borges's full name was Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges but following Argentine custom, he never used the entire name. In spain, Borges became a member of the avant garde Ultraist literary movement. Borges's first collection of poetry was Fervor de Buenos Aires (1923). Ocampo herself introduced Borges to Adolfo Bioy Casares, who was to become Borges's frequent collaborator and Ocampo's brother in law, and another well known figure of Argentine literature. Borges's father died in 1938, a great blow because the two were very close. Neither coincidence nor the irony escaped Borges and he commneted on them in his work. Borges's internation fame dates approximately from the early 1960's. Borges was married twice. After the divorce, Borges moved back in with his mother.
        Borges's interst in fantasy was shared by Bioy Casares with whom Borges co-authored several collections of tales between 1942 and 1967, sometimes under different pseudonyms. As well as his own original work, Borges was notable as a translator into Spanish. Borges also wrote in two very unusual literary forms: the literary forgery adn the review of an imaginary work.
        Borges's best known set of literary forgeries date from his early work as a translator and literary critic with a regular column in the Argentine magazine El Hogar. While Borges was certainly the great popularizer of the review of an imaginary work, it was not of his own invention. Borges grew acquainted with the literature from Argentine, Spanish, North American, English, German, Italian, and Northern European/Icelandic sources, including those of Anglo Saxon and Old Norse.
        If Borges often focused on universal themes, he no less composed a substantial body of literature on themes from Argentine folklore, history, and current concerns. Borges's first book, the poetry collection Fervor de Buenos Aires (Passion for Buenos Aires), appeared in 1923. Borges's interest in Argentine themes reflects in part the inspiration of his family tree. Borges's maternal great grandfather was another military hero, whom Borges immortalized in the poem "A Page to Commemorate Colonel Suarez, Victor at Junin." As Borges matured, he came to a more nuanced attitude toward the poem. Borges uses Martin Fierro and El Moreno's competition as a theme once again in "El Fin" ("The End") a story that first appeared in his short story collection Artificios (1944).
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