Leonor Acevedo Suárez
Encyclopedia
Leonor Acevedo Suárez was the mother of the Argentine
author Jorge Luis Borges
, and a major figure in his life and work.
, the daughter of Leonor Suárez de Acevedo (1837-1918) and Isidoro Acevedo Laprida. She married Jorge Guillermo Borges, a lawyer, professor, and anarchist with literary aspirations, by whom she had two children: Jorge Luis
in 1899 and Leonor Fanny
in 1901. As her husband's sight deteriorated, she assisted him with his reading and dictation, services which she would later provide to her famous son as he succumbed to the same hereditary blindness.
Leonor produced several translations in her own right, all from English: At the Bay by Katherine Mansfield
, The Human Comedy by William Saroyan
, and The Meaning of Art by Herbert Read
.
Leonor was known for her forceful personality and vitality. Tomás Eloy Martínez
recalled that when Jorge Luis visited the University of Texas in Austin, his mother was then eighty-five but appeared much younger; walking about on her son's arm, many of the students assumed that she was the author's wife.
Leonor Acevedo died in 1975 at the age of ninety-nine. At her wake, a woman paid her respects and remarked: "Poor little Leonor, to die so soon before turning a hundred. If only she'd waited a little longer..." to which Jorge Luis replied, "I see, madam, that you're a devotee of the decimal system.".
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...
author 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...
, and a major figure in his life and work.
Life
Leonor Acevedo was born in 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...
, the daughter of Leonor Suárez de Acevedo (1837-1918) and Isidoro Acevedo Laprida. She married Jorge Guillermo Borges, a lawyer, professor, and anarchist with literary aspirations, by whom she had two children: Jorge Luis
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...
in 1899 and Leonor Fanny
Norah Borges
Leonor Fanny Borges Acevedo , better known by the pseudonym Norah Borges was a visual artist and art critic, member of the Florida group, and sister of the Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges....
in 1901. As her husband's sight deteriorated, she assisted him with his reading and dictation, services which she would later provide to her famous son as he succumbed to the same hereditary blindness.
Leonor produced several translations in her own right, all from English: At the Bay by Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
, The Human Comedy by William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
, and The Meaning of Art by Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
.
Leonor was known for her forceful personality and vitality. Tomás Eloy Martínez
Tomás Eloy Martínez
Tomás Eloy Martínez was an Argentine journalist and writer.-Life and work:Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Martínez obtained a degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of Tucumán, and an MA at the University of Paris...
recalled that when Jorge Luis visited the University of Texas in Austin, his mother was then eighty-five but appeared much younger; walking about on her son's arm, many of the students assumed that she was the author's wife.
Leonor Acevedo died in 1975 at the age of ninety-nine. At her wake, a woman paid her respects and remarked: "Poor little Leonor, to die so soon before turning a hundred. If only she'd waited a little longer..." to which Jorge Luis replied, "I see, madam, that you're a devotee of the decimal system.".