One of the most unique literary figures of the twentieth century, Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on this day in 1899.
As a master craftsman of the short story, Borges penned tales of Argentina’s criminal underbelly and created fictional worlds that captured his wonder with the concept of infinitude. His poems commemorate the unique culture and traditions of the capital of Buenos Aires, where he lived until his death in 1986.
Perhaps one of Latin America’s greatest writers, many view it as an injustice that he died without having received a Nobel Prize for literature.
“It makes me a little ashamed to receive the Nobel Prize, given that Borges didn’t receive it,” Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa said after winning the coveted award in 2010.
To mark the literary genius’s birthday, enjoy some of his most pithy quotes below.
