Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), Argentinian writer, best known for his complex and paradoxical stories. Born in Buenos Aires, Borges spent much of his youth in Europe, where he began to write poetry. After returning to Argentina he published short stories and journalism while working as a librarian; he was dismissed from this employment in 1946, for his opposition to the dictator Peron. Despite having lost his sight, he was appointed director of the National Library following Peron’s fall in 1955. His international reputation rests mainly on the highly original stories published in Fictions (1944; 1966) and The Aleph (1949; 1970). He is regarded as the founder of the style known as ‘magical realism’, in which fantastic events are described in a realistic style.
