New Delhi: A doodle inspired by the writings of Jorge Luis Borges honours the Argentine author on his 112th birthday. Born on August 24, 1899 in Buenos Aires the poet, essayist and short-story writer had command over a number of languages, though Spanish was the language of his literature.
Born to a respected Argentine family, Borges interest in literature was triggered by the books in his father's library. In 1914 Borges moved to Switzerland with his family, where he learned French and German and also received his bachelor’s degree. While in Europe, Borges also spent a year in Spain, where he joined the Ultraist movement of avant-garde poets.
Upon his return to Argentina in 1921 he established the Ultraist movement in South America. Borges' first published work was a volume of poems titled Fervor de Buenos Aires, poemas (Fervour of Buenos Aires, Poems).
He later worked at a library at the Argentine capital to earn a livelihood. A near death experience in 1938 seems to have further triggered Borges' creativity and he went on to produce some of this best works. His support for the Allied Forces in World War II led to his dismissal under the dictatorship of Juan Peron. After Peron's downfall Borges was made a professor of English and American literature at the University of Buenos Aires and was also given the designation of the director of the national library.
A hereditary ailment led to Jorge Luis Borges going blind and that, scholars say, led him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. He also blurred the distinctions between prose and poetry.
Borges work was noticed outside the literary circles in the rest of the world when he was honoured with the Formentor Prize along with Samuel Beckett.
Borges is known for his innovative style of interconnected short stories with where death and nightmare were recurring themes. His most famous books include Ficciones (1944) and The Aleph (1949). Jorge Luis Borges died on June 14, 1986 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Google doodles have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google team has put out commemorative doodles on events ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.
Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010 and more than 150 in 2011.
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