Long before Jorge Luis Borges became one of the world’s most influential writers in the Spanish language, English was already woven into his life. It was the language of his family, his earliest readings, and, eventually, many of the literary traditions that shaped his imagination.
According to Borges biographer Lucas Adur — author of Jorge Luis Borges: a literary fate, published by Cátedra — English provided Borges with his first literary education, served as a language of intimacy, and helped forge the distinctive style that would make him Argentina’s most celebrated writer.
“It was a family matter: Borges was bilingual since birth,” Adur told the Herald.
Both Georgie and his sister Norah would usually speak English at home. The language came primarily through his grandmother, Fanny Haslam, an English woman from Northumberland, and his father, Jorge Guillermo, who was raised by Fanny after his father died.
Borges and his sister Norah in a family postcard
