Julio Cortázar

Who is Julio Cortázar?

Julio Cortázar was born in Brussels, Belgium, on 26 August 1914 to Argentine parents and died in Paris on 12 February 1984. Raised in Buenos Aires, he became one of the central figures of the Latin American 'Boom' of the 1960s. His experimental novel 'Rayuela' ('Hopscotch,' 1963) is his most celebrated work: it can be read in multiple orders, inviting the reader to become an active collaborator, and it transformed ideas of narrative structure in the Spanish language. He was also a master of the short story, with collections such as 'Bestiario' (1951) and 'Las armas secretas' (1959); his story 'Las babas del diablo' inspired Michelangelo Antonioni's film 'Blow-Up.' Cortázar spent much of his life in France, where he worked as a translator for UNESCO, and became politically engaged in support of leftist causes in Latin America. His playful, inventive prose profoundly influenced modern fiction.

Sources: Julio Cortázar, 'Rayuela' (1963) · Julio Cortázar, 'Bestiario' (1951)