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Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine Poet, Novelist, short story writer and critic Jorge Luis Borges' library career began in 1937 with his appointment to the post of assistant librarian in a small Library in Buenos Aries. Borges, along with the other members of the Argentine Ultraism movement gained a reputation for radicalism and unconventionality. For his criticism of the military regime of Juan Peron (which began in 1946) Borges was removed from his library position and reassigned the job of chicken inspector. Following the fall of the Peronist regime in 1955 Borges was appointed director of the National Library of Argentina, though by now his eyesight was deteriorating rapidly. He also accepted the position of chair of English and North American Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. His literary career continued to garner him international accolades; he shared the international publishers’ for mentor prize with Samuel Beckett in 1961.

Following Juan Peron’s return to power in 1973, Borges relinquished his directorship of the National Library. Within his prolific literary output his lifelong passion for the printed word (which endured after the loss of his sight) is evident. His short story ‘The Library of Babel’ features several of his central themes; infinity, reason, scholarly pursuit and in its evocation of an infinite library has recently been seen as a prophetic statement on the internet.