Jorge Luis Borges (Jorge Luis Borges), Argentine poet, novelist and translator. Born on August 24, 1899 in a family of British lawyers at No. 840 Tucumán Street in downtown Buenos Aires. His father, Jorge Guillermo Borges (1874-1938), was a lawyer and a psychology teacher at the Modern Language Normal School. He was proficient in English and had a large collection of various texts; his mother, Leonor Aser Victor (1876-1975) came from a prominent family and took care of the housework after marriage, but he was also well-read and proficient in English; his grandmother Frances (Fanny) Haslam (1845-1935) was British, and English was her mother tongue. Although J.L. Borges has been influenced by this strong English environment since he was a child, the environment in which he lives is Spanish-speaking Argentina after all. According to the author, he learned Spanish first and then English.

In 1901, the Borges family moved from his grandfather's house at No. 840 Tucumán Street to No. 2135/47 Serrano Street (now renamed Borges Street) in the northern part of the capital, Palermo District. A tall and spacious two-story building with a garden; the writer spent his childhood and youth here. His father set up a library in this comfortable building, which contained a large number of precious literary masterpieces. Borges was able to listen to and appreciate them from his grandmother and British female teacher. Soon he was immersed in reading on his own and never tired of it.

Borges was influenced by his family and loved reading and writing since he was a child. He showed a strong desire for creation and literary talent at an early age. When he was 7 years old, he abbreviated a piece of Greek mythology in English. At the age of 8, he wrote a story in Spanish called "The Deadly Blindfold" based on "Don Quixote". When he was 10 years old, he published a translation of the fairy tale "The Happy Prince" by British writer Oscar Wilde in "The Nation", signed by Jorge Borges. His translation was so mature that he was actually considered to have been written by his father.

In 1914, his father was almost completely blind due to eye disease and decided to retire, so Jorge Luis went to Europe with his family. After traveling to England and France, he settled in Geneva, Switzerland. Borges officially went to middle school and studied French, German, Latin and many other languages. With his unique language environment, the studious Borges became even more powerful and eagerly browsed the world's famous works. He read Daudet, Zola, Maupassant, Hugo, Flaubert, Thomas Carlyle, Chesterman, Stevenson, Kipling, Thomas De Quincey, Edgar Allan Poe, Hugo E. Terman, read Heine, Meylink, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche... This had a huge and far-reaching impact on his future literary creation, and laid an extremely solid foundation.

From 1919 to 1920, he moved to Spain with his family. During this period, he interacted with some young extremist writers and had a quarrel with each other. They co-organized literary journals, actively wrote articles, and created "Ode to October" The revolutionary poem "Red Melody" and the collection of short stories "The Gambler's Cards"; however, Borges was self-effacing and believed that these were only experimental works that were not yet ready for publication and were not published.

After returning to Buenos Aires in 1921, Borges seemed to be driven by fate to come to the library, the paradise in his heart, and engaged in library work throughout his life, serving as Buenos Aires successively. The staff and director of public libraries in Enos Aires is a bourgeois democrat; he also engages in literary creation, publishing magazines, giving lectures and other activities. In 1923, he officially published his first collection of poems, "The Passion of Buenos Aires" (first published at his own expense in 1922), and two later collections of poems, "The Moon in Front of Me" (1925) and "Notes of Saint Martin" (1929). ) form is free, plain, fresh, clear, and passionate. Borges emerged as a poet in the literary world and emerged.

During the Peron administration from 1946 to 1955, he was dismissed from his post as director of the municipal library for signing a manifesto against Peron, and was humiliatingly ordered to work as a market poultry inspector. In order to maintain his personality and dignity, he is not afraid of power. He refused to hold office and issued an open letter in protest, which received widespread support from the intelligentsia. In 1950, due to the support of many writers, Borges was elected president of the Argentine Writers Association. This is tantamount to a slap in the face to the Peron government. After Peron's death, he was appointed director of the National Library of Argentina on October 17, 1955. At the same time, he also served as professor of English literature in the Department of Philosophy and Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. In the 1960s, he went to Texas, the United States. Lectures at universities and other schools.

In his later years, Borges left the shores of Buenos Aires with his four identities and began his short career across the ocean. His destination was Geneva. Like other old people who feel that their days are numbered, Borges also chose to return to his roots and die in Geneva as he wished.

Borges was very proficient in reading and writing throughout his life. He lost his sight in his later years, but continued to create by dictation, and his achievements were astonishing. However, his married life was not satisfactory. He was single for a long time and was taken care of by his mother. He did not marry the widowed Elsa Astete Millian until he was 68 years old (1967), and they divorced three years later. After his mother passed away, he finally identified Maria Kodama, a Japanese female secretary who had followed him for many years, as his lifelong partner.

They married in Geneva on April 26, 1986, declaring her the sole legal heir of his property for the safekeeping, organization and publication of his works. On June 14 of the same year, Borges, a literary master of his generation, died in Geneva due to ineffective treatment for liver cancer.

Important works of Borges

1923: Poetry collection "The Passion of Buenos Aires"

1925: "The Moon Before"

1929: "St. Martin's Playbook"

1937: "The Biography of the Villain"

1941: "The Garden of Forking Paths",< /p>

1949: "Aleph"

1951: "Death by the Compass"

1969: "Ode to the Shadow"

1970: "The Brody Report"

1972: "Tiger's Golden"

1975: "Deep Rose"