Enrique Anderson-Imbert (February 12, 1910– December 6, 2000) was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

ist, short-story writer and literary critic

Literary criticism

Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

.

Born in Córdoba, Argentina

Córdoba, Argentina

Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...

, Anderson-Imbert graduated from the University of Buenos Aires

University of Buenos Aires

The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...

. From 1940 until 1947 he taught at the University of Tucumán. In 1947, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

 in 1954. He became the first Victor S. Thomas Professor of Hispanic Literature at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1965. Anderson-Imbert remained at Harvard until his retirement in 1980. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 in 1967.

Anderson-Imbert is best known for his brief "microcuentos" in which he blends fantasy and magical realism. His story "Sala de espera" is taken from The Cheshire Cat

Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...

, written in 1965; he is also the author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of the 1966 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

entitled "Taboo." He also penned the famous short stories "El Leve Pedro", "El Fantasma", and "Vudu".

He died on December 6, 2000 in Buenos Aires.

Essays

• La flecha en el aire (1937)
• Ibsen y su tiempo (1946)
• Historia de la Literatura Hispanoamericana (1955), one vol.
• Una aventura amorosa de Sarmiento (1969)
• Teoría del Cuento (1978)
• La Crítica Literaria y sus Métodos (1979)
• El Realismo Mágico y Otros Ensayos, (1979)
• Mentiras y Mentirosos en el Mundo de las Letras (1992)
• La Prosa (1984)
• Nuevos Estudios Sobre Letras Hispanas (1986)

Narratives

• Vigilia (1934)
• El Gato de Cheshire (1965)
• El Grimorio (1969)
• Victoria (1977)
• La Botella de Klein (1978)
• La Locura Juega al Ajedrez (1971)
• Los Primeros Cuentos del Mundo (1978)
• Anti-Story: an Anthology of Experimental Fiction (1971)
• Imperial Messages (1976)