Estela Canto
Encyclopedia
Estela Canto was an Argentine
writer and translator best known for her relationship with Jorge Luis Borges
.
an family. Her ancestors included some important military men. Her brother Patricio Canto was also a writer, and authored the essay El caso Ortega y Gasset about the Spanish philosopher
.
Estela held various jobs during the late 1930s and early 1940s, including as a dancer-for-hire at a local dance hall, where men would pay women "by the dance" to serve as their partners.
In 1944, at the house of Adolfo Bioy Casares
and Silvina Ocampo
, Canto was introduced to Jorge Luis Borges
. Borges was, at this time, already well regarded in literary circles. Initially he took little notice of Canto, though she observed him with admiration and curiosity, though she had no interest in forming romantic attachments to intellectuals. On their second meeting at Bioy's house, Borges asked her out. After an evening of dancing and chatting they discovered, among other things, a common admiration for George Bernard Shaw
. Borges fell in love with Canto and wrote her a number of romantic letters, which Canto would later publish in her 1989 book about their relationship.
In this book, Canto said of their relationship:
Borges' mother Leonor Acevedo Suárez
disliked Canto on account of her sexual liberality and casual affairs with men. Nevertheless, Borges proposed to her. She replied:
Borges' infatuation with Canto faded with time. Many years later they reestablished contact and became friends.
Borges dedicated The Aleph to Canto. It is widely assumed that Canto was the inspiration for the character of Beatriz Viterbo, the narrator's unrequited love. and gave her the original manuscript as a gift. Canto sold this manuscript to Sotheby's
for thirty thousand dollars, and it was later bought at auction by the National Library of Spain.
Canto contributed numerous translations to Sur, including selections from In Search of Lost Time
.
. In 1989 she published Borges a contraluz, a biography of the author in which she recounted various intimate details of their relationship. In 1999 this book was adapted into a film, directed by Javier Torre and titled Estela Canto, un amor de Borges.
. Diario Página/12, 20 April 2008. Estela Canto: the sabotage of "genre" in a poetics of vision by María Rosa Lojo
. Revista Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana, 1999.
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...
writer and translator best known for her relationship with Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
.
Life
Canto was the descendant of an old UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an family. Her ancestors included some important military men. Her brother Patricio Canto was also a writer, and authored the essay El caso Ortega y Gasset about the Spanish philosopher
José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist working during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. He was, along with Nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism.-Biography:José Ortega y Gasset was...
.
Estela held various jobs during the late 1930s and early 1940s, including as a dancer-for-hire at a local dance hall, where men would pay women "by the dance" to serve as their partners.
In 1944, at the house of Adolfo Bioy Casares
Adolfo Bioy Casares
Adolfo Bioy Casares was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, and translator. He was a friend and collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges, and wrote what many consider one of the best pieces of fantastic fiction, the novella The Invention of Morel.-Biography:Adolfo Bioy...
and Silvina Ocampo
Silvina Ocampo
Silvina Ocampo Aguirre was an Argentine poet and short-fiction writer.Ocampo was born in Buenos Aires, the youngest of the six children of Manuel Ocampo and Ramona Aguirre. She was educated at home by tutors. One of her sisters was Victoria Ocampo, the publisher of the literarily important...
, Canto was introduced to Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
. Borges was, at this time, already well regarded in literary circles. Initially he took little notice of Canto, though she observed him with admiration and curiosity, though she had no interest in forming romantic attachments to intellectuals. On their second meeting at Bioy's house, Borges asked her out. After an evening of dancing and chatting they discovered, among other things, a common admiration for George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
. Borges fell in love with Canto and wrote her a number of romantic letters, which Canto would later publish in her 1989 book about their relationship.
In this book, Canto said of their relationship:
Borges' mother Leonor Acevedo Suárez
Leonor Acevedo Suárez
Leonor Acevedo Suárez was the mother of the Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, and a major figure in his life and work.- Life :Leonor Acevedo was born in Uruguay, the daughter of Leonor Suárez de Acevedo and Isidoro Acevedo Laprida...
disliked Canto on account of her sexual liberality and casual affairs with men. Nevertheless, Borges proposed to her. She replied:
Borges' infatuation with Canto faded with time. Many years later they reestablished contact and became friends.
Borges dedicated The Aleph to Canto. It is widely assumed that Canto was the inspiration for the character of Beatriz Viterbo, the narrator's unrequited love. and gave her the original manuscript as a gift. Canto sold this manuscript to Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
for thirty thousand dollars, and it was later bought at auction by the National Library of Spain.
Canto contributed numerous translations to Sur, including selections from In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
.
Work
The bulk of Canto's work describes life in Buenos Aires in the time before PeronismPeronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
. In 1989 she published Borges a contraluz, a biography of the author in which she recounted various intimate details of their relationship. In 1999 this book was adapted into a film, directed by Javier Torre and titled Estela Canto, un amor de Borges.
- 1945 El muro de mármol ("The Marble Wall")
- 1950 El retrato y la imagen ("The Portrait and the Image")
- 1953 El hombre del crepúsculo ("The Man of the Evening")
- 1956 El estanque ("The Pond")
- 1962 La noche y el barro ("The Night and the Mud")
- 1966 Isabel entre las plantas ("Isabel among the Plants")
- 1973 Los otros, las máscaras ("Others, Masks")
- 1976 La hora detenida ("The Delayed Moment")
- 1978 El jazmín negro ("The Black Jasmine")
- 1980 Ronda nocturna ("Night Patrol")
- 1982 Detrás de la medialuna ("Behind the Half-Moon", written under the pseudonym of Evelyn Clift)
- 1989 Borges a contraluz ("Silhouette of Borges")
Awards
- 1945 Premio Municipal for El muro de mármol
- 1945 Premio Imprena López por El muro de mármol
External links
Estela Canto: a portrait by Andrés RiveraAndrés Rivera
Andreas Rivera , a pseudonym of Marcos Ribak, is an Argentine writer. Born in Buenos Aires to immigrant parents, he was at various points a textile worker, a journalist, and a writer. From 1953–1957, Rivera worked on the staff of the magazine Plática...
. Diario Página/12, 20 April 2008. Estela Canto: the sabotage of "genre" in a poetics of vision by María Rosa Lojo
María Rosa Lojo
María Rosa Lojo is an author born in Buenos Aires. Her father, a Republican from Galicia, had exiled himself to Argentina after the Civil War. She directs two research projects and offers a doctoral seminar at the Universidad del Salvador. She is a longstanding contributor to the Literary...
. Revista Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana, 1999.