By Shubhangi Gupta                                                                                                                   

“The Original is unfaithful to the translation” - from Jorge Luis Borges. 
INTRODUCTION   
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo, a well-known essayist, poet, short-story writer, and a translator was a key figure in Spanish language literature. He was born on 24 August 1899 in Buenos Aires in Argentina. His father, Guillermo Borges, was a lawyer and a psychology teacher and grew up speaking English at home, and his mother was Leonor Suarez who came from a traditional Uruguayan family. Jorge learned English before he even learned Spanish. His father was a great influence in his life, he encouraged both writing as well as reading and because of him only, Jorge recognized that he was destined for a literary career. They used to reside in Palermo. At the age of 9, he translated Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince” into Spanish which was also published in a local journal. In 1914, his family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he attended school and learned French and  In 1918, he received his ‘Baccalaureat’. After World War I, his family moved to various other cities in Europe till 1921 including Spain, where he joined a group of young writers of “Ultraist Movement” and later returned to Buenos Aires. Although he had little formal education and no qualifications, he knew a lot of languages and met a lot of famous writers while he was living in Europe.    HIS CAREER   
His first poem “Hymn to the sea” was published in the magazine “Grecia”. In 1923, he published his first collection of poetry “Fervor de Buenos Aires” and also co-founded the journals ‘Prisma’, though he regretted publishing some of the things later tried to destroy them. By the mid-1930s, he started writing fiction in a style called “Irreality”. Victoria Ocampo, founder of a famous literary journal “Sur” helped Jorge found his fame as he was a regular contributor of it and later they became great friends and also wrote a number of works together, including fantasy stories and detective series. During these times, Macedonio Fernandez, a family friend became a major influence on him and they both used to have major discussions over the works in cafes. In 1935, he published a book called “Historia Universal de la Infamia” which included non-fictional essays, and literary forgeries. Later, he worked as a literary adviser and wrote weekly columns for “El Hogar”. In 1938, he found work as the first assistant at the Miguel Cane Municipal Library, where his task used to take only an hour each day and rest of the time, he used to spend in the basement of the library, writing and translating. In 1938, his father died and he suffered a severe injury and he almost died of Septicemia. After his recovery, his another story “Pierre-Menard-Author of the Quixote” came out in 1939. By the mid-1940s, he began a new career as a public lecturer due to his failing vision and became a public figure. In 1941, his first collection of short-stories “El Jardin de Senderos que se bifurcan” contains most of his previously published works in Sur. Though the book was well received and was expected of a huge success, failed to garner him the literary prizes. His short story “Emma Zunz” was made into a movie and he also started writing screenplays. In 1955, he was nominated to the directorship of National Library and by the late 1950s, he became completely blind. In 1956, University of Cuyo awarded him with the honorary doctorate and in 1957, he received National Prize for Literature. Later, he became a professor of literature and also gave lectures in Havard University. 

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Borges’s political participation influenced his thoughts a lot from a very early stage. In 1945, he signed a manifesto calling for an end to military rule and the establishment of political liberty and democratic elections. He was also opposed to Marxism and Communism, he thought that many people believe that dictatorship is good because then, people just have to follow the decisions taken for them and they do not have to think about anything. He was also Conservative and hated the Nazis and Anti-Semites.             HIS ACHIEVEMENTS     

He was a notable translator and translated works in many languages such as French, English, German, Old English and Spanish. In 1943, eight of his poems published in an anthology of Spanish American poets by H.R. Hays. His one of the first stories “The garden of forking paths” by translated in    English and appeared in a magazine in 1948. In 1961, he received his first “Prix International”. In 1962, two of his major anthologies were published in ‘Ficciones’ and ‘Labyrinths’. Later, he won a lot of awards over the years like “Jerusalem Prize” (1971), “Edgar Allan Poe Award” (1976), the “Balzan Prize” (for Philology, Linguistics and Literary Criticism, 1980), Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca (the Cervantes Prize, 1980), French Legion of Honour (1983) and the Diamond Konex Award (for Literature Arts). In 1967, he collaborated with an American Translator through whom he became known in the English-speaking world. In 1984, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at University of Crete. Though he was never awarded the Noble Prize for Literature, he was nominated in 1967 and was among the final three choices. Some believed that he did not receive the award because of his conservative views on politics, etc. 
 HIS PERSONAL LIFE                 

When he lost his eyesight, he heavily relied on his mother’s help and when he was unable to read and write anymore, his mother became his personal secretary as he never learned to read Braille. In 1967, he married widowed Elsa Astete Millan, however, the couple separated in 1970. Later, he again married in 1986, with his personal assistant “Maria Kodama” in Paraguay. In 1986 only, he died of liver cancer in Geneva. After his death, Kodama as his widow and heir gained control over all his works.

HIS INFLUENCE   
Borges exerted a strong influence on the direction of literary fiction through his essays, poetry, etc. His works constitute exemplary literary advances, extreme linguistic conscience and reflective sharpness of literature. He was a polymath who could discourse on the literature of America and Europe. He was a founder of postmodernist literature and also a principal practitioner of it. His fictions create a dynamic electric genre. His works though were only short-stories and essays, they were greatly appreciated by many authors and writers because of their innovation, intelligence and the almost mathematical style. He effectively influenced the destiny of literature. He renovated the language of fiction and pave way for Spanish American novelists. He also inspired many young writers when his work became known in the United States. He reawakened the possibilities of farfetched fancy, intellectuality, parody, and wit. He expertly blended the three genres: the essay, the poem, and the short story and cultivated them. He also blended the traditional boundaries between fact and fiction. The English Library at his house was what opened the literary doors for him, he once remarked that “If I were asked to name the chief event in my life, I should say my father's library.” Borges also stated, in “An Autobiographical essay” which originally appeared in New Yorker and was later included in “The Aleph and Other Stories, 1933-1969”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Profile Link: http://modlingua.com/interns/914-shubhangi-gupta-spanish-english.html