He was born on August 24, 1899 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Influenced by his grandmother, of English origin, Borges learned to read this language before Spanish, becoming bilingual at an early age. He was educated in Buenos Aires and in Geneva; and when he only six years old he told his his father that he wanted to be a writer. At the age of seven he wrote -in English- a summary of Greek mythology; at the age of eight he wrote "The fatal vísera", inspired by an episode of  the Quixote;  and at the age of nine he translated Oscar Wilde's "The happy prince" from English into the Spanish. He was a writer, poet, essayist and creator of short stories.

In 1914 he moved to Geneva with his family, where he wrote some poems in French while he was in high school (1914-1918). His first published work was a summary of three books written in French for Genevan newspaper. A little later he began to publish poems and manifests in the literary press of Spain, where he resided from 1919 until 1921, year in which his family returned to Buenos Aires. The young poet re-discovered his natal city, especially the suburbs of the south, communities of "compadritos" (slang for arrogant). He started writing poems about this discovery, publishing his first book of poems titled ”Fervor of Buenos Aires” (1923). After settling down in Buenos Aires in1924 he published several literary magazines and two more books: “Luna de enfrente  ” and “Inquisiciones”.

In thirty years that followed, he became one of the most brilliant and controversial writers of South America. Tired of the ultraísmo (experimental school of poetry developed from the cubism and futurism), he tried to create a new type of regionalism taking roots in a metaphysical perspective of reality. He wrote stories and poems o about the porteño suburb, about the tango and about fatal knfie fights ("Hombre de la esquina rosada", "El Puñal"). After a while, he began to speculate in writing about the fantastic or magic narrative; to the point of producing, during two decades (1930-1950) some of the most extraordinary fiction writings of this century: Historia universal de la infamia,1935; Ficciones, 1935-1944; El Aleph, 1949 among others.

In 1961 he received, together with Samuel Beckett, the Formentor Prize granted by the  International Congress of Publishers and Editors, and marked the beginning of his fame resulting in a high reputation in the western world. He receives the title of Commendatore's from the Italian government, Commander of the Orderof the Letters and Arts from  the French Government, the Gentleman's Emblem of the Order from the British Empire and the Cervantes Prize, among many other prizes and recognitions.

Jorge Luis Borges died in Geneva on June 14, 1986