Leonor Fanny "Norah" Borges Acevedo (March 4, 1901 – July 20, 1998), was a visual artist and art critic, member of the

Florida group The Florida group"The Florida Group" (text in Spanish) by: de Lama, Víctor (1993). ''Antología de la poesía amorosa española e hispanoamericana'' (14a. edición). Madrid: Editorial EDAF. . ( Sp.: ''grupo Florida'') was an ''avant-garde'' litera ...

, and sister of the Argentine writer

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

Early life and source of nickname

She was the daughter of a lawyer, Dr. Jorge Guillermo Borges and Leonor Acevedo Suárez. Leonor was given the name Norah by her older brother,

. Of his sister, Jorge wrote:

In all of our games she was always el
caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...
, I the slow, timid, submissive one. She climbed to the top of the roof, traipsed through the trees, and I followed along with more fear than enthusiasm. —Jorge Luis Borges, ''Norah''

Growing up, Norah lived in the shadow of her famous brother. It wasn't until later in life that she emerged from her brother's shadow and gained her own personal popularity. As a child, she moved with her family to Switzerland to treat the progressive blindness of her father. She studied with the classical sculptor Maurice Sarkisoff at the École des Beaux-Arts of

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. After three years of school, Norah was told by Professor Sarkisoff to leave the ways of the academy to grow in her individual style. In

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

she studied with Arnaldo Bossi and was close to German expressionists such as

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century ...

. With Bossi, Borges learned the art of woodcutting and the aesthetics of expressionism.

Early career

In Switzerland, Borges wrote and illustrated her first poetry book, ''Notas lejanas'' (1915). After its publication, Borges and her family hoped to return to Argentina, but their stay in Europe was extended by four years because of the First World War. During this time, Borges saw much of Europe. First, she visited Provence and was so deeply impressed by Nîmes that she dedicated some of her later work to her travels there. After traveling through Provence, she moved to Spain, where she furthered her studies and participated in the

Avant-Garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

movement. In Spain, Borges first visited Barcelona, and then, in 1919, moved to Palma, Majorca. In Palma, she studied under Sven Westman and collaborated with her brother on the magazine ''Baleares''. Next she visited Sevilla, where she became a part of the vanguard of

Ultraísmo The Ultraist movement () was a literary movement born in Spain in 1918, with the declared intention of opposing Modernismo, which had dominated Spanish poetry since the end of the 19th century. The movement was launched in the tertulias of Madr ...

, published her work in magazines like ''Grecia'' (1918-1920), ''Ultra'', ''Tableros y Reflector'', and in 1920 she illustrated the cover of ''El jardin de centauro'' (The Garden of the Centaur), a book of poems by Adriano del Valle. In the Spanish literary magazine, ''Grecia'', she was asked to redesign the graphic design elements of four covers and a new header for their opening page at the age of eighteen. After leaving Sevilla, she passed through Granada and then finally came to Madrid, where she studied with the painter

Julio Romero de Torres Julio Romero de Torres (9 November 1874 – 10 May 1930) was a Spanish painter. His brothers, Rafael and , also became painters. Biography He was the son of Rafael Romero Barros, a painter who served as Director of the Fine Arts Museum of ...

. Here she befriended the poet

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

. She illustrated a number of his books and dedicated a portrait to him in her book ''Españoles de tres mundos''. In March 1921, Borges returned by boat to Buenos Aires. As a young painter, she aligned herself with the vanguard artists of the

. Her work in ''Prisma'' (1921) reflects the ultraist (anti-modernist) ideas of the group, but her illustrations for magazines such as ''Mural'', ''Proa'' (1924-1926) and ''

Martín Fierro ''Martín Fierro'', also known as ''El Gaucho Martín Fierro'', is a 2,316-line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, ''El Gaucho Martín Fierro'' (1872) and ''La Vuelta de Martín Fi ...

'', and her illustrations in the first edition of the poetry book ''Fervor de Buenos Aires'' by

(1923) reveal the influence of the Cubism that she had begun to assimilate with her French contacts in Spain. In 1923, the French surrealist magazine ''Manomètre'', and, in 1924, ''

'' published her paintings. In the September-October 1924 issue of ''Martin Fierro'', Borges' first collection of poems called ''Calle de la tarde'' were displayed. Also in 1924, Borges created a woodcut cover for the Mexican journal, ''Antena''. Two years later, two of her illustrations were in the magazine ''Amauta''. When creating for ''Amauta'', she was working underneath

José Carlos Mariátegui José Carlos Mariátegui La Chira (June 14, 1894 - April 16, 1930) was a Peruvian writer, journalist, politician and Marxist–Leninist philosopher. A prolific author despite his early death, El Amauta (from Quechua: hamawt'a, "teacher", a na ...

, who used illustration as a tool to help women artists in Latin American advertise their artwork. In 1926, she displayed 75 works (oils, woodcarvings, drawings, water-colorings, and tapestries) in the ''Asociación Amigos del Arte'' exhibition. In 1928, she married the writer and art critic

Guillermo de Torre Guillermo de Torre (Madrid, 1900 – Buenos Aires, 14 January 1971) was a Spanish essayist, poet and literary critic, a Dadaist and member of the Generation of '27. He is also notable as the brother-in-law of the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borge ...

, a student of the

Ultraist movement The Ultraist movement () was a literary movement born in Spain in 1918, with the declared intention of opposing Modernismo, which had dominated Spanish poetry since the end of the 19th century. The movement was launched in the tertulias of Madr ...

and an expert on

art and literature, whom she had met in Spain when she was 19 years old. They had two children. In the Second World War, she became a vocal supporter of

Junta de la Victoria Junta de la Victoria was an Argentinian social movement that mobilized women against fascism and for democracy, both at home and abroad. Founded on September 13, 1941 by upper-class women, Communists, rural Jewish women, and wives of foreign diplom ...

, an association of anti-fascist feminists in Argentina directed by

Cora Ratto de Sadosky Corina (Cora) Eloísa Ratto de Sadosky (aka Cora Ratto, 1912–1981) was an Argentine mathematician, educator and militant activist in support of human and women's rights in Argentina and beyond. She played an important part in the Argentine Uni ...

and

Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero (15 August 1898 - 4 September 1964) was an Argentine feminist leader, philanthropist, and welfare worker. She founded the ''Señoras de San Vicente de Paul en General Madariaga'' (Ladies Conference of St. Vin ...

. Also included in the group were the writer María Rosa Oliver, the photographer

Annemarie Heinrich Annemarie Heinrich (9 January 1912 – 22 September 2005) was a German-born naturalized Argentine photographer, who specialized in portraits and nude photographs. Heinrich is considered one of Argentina's most important photographers. She is kno ...

, the psychoanalyst Mimí Langer, the artist

Raquel Forner Raquel Forner (1902–1988) was an Argentine painter known for her expressionist works. Life Forner was born in Buenos Aires in 1902. Her father was Spanish by nationality and her mother was an Argentine of Spanish descent. As a result of fr ...

, and the poet

Silvina Ocampo Silvina Ocampo (28 July 1903 – 14 December 1993) was an Argentine short story writer, poet, and artist. Ocampo's friend and collaborator Jorge Luis Borges called Ocampo "one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language, whether on this side o ...

Post-war career

After the war, Norah spent one month with her mother Leo Acevedo in a women's prison for uttering cries against the president of Argentina Juan Perón, deepening the aversion that her brother felt for the Argentinian political party

Partido Justicialista The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

and its founder Perón. After her release, Norah illustrated her brother's book ''Cuaderno San Martin'', as she had done with his earlier works like ''Luna de enfrente'' and ''Fervor de Buenos Aires'', and ''Las invitadas'' (1961) and ''Autobiografia de Irene'' (1962) by

. Norah wrote as an art critic for ''Anales de Buenos Aires'' under the pseudonym Manuel Pinedo. She worked as a journalist and painter until her death in 1998, but she gave away much of her work and did not care for regular art exhibitions. Norah's arrest was odd because her paintings didn't seem to have any political context before. She wasn't very vocal about her political views even with the arrest and her association to the Sur. She even refused to make statements about her political views. Norah's protest and imprisonment were eventually represented in her art such as her painting, ''Recuerdos de la prisión'' (1948-1949). Her later paintings were considered to be more "female-centered". In 1942, a version of ''Platero y yo'' by

was published with illustrations and vignettes by Norah. She also worked as a graphic artist on other books by Spanish emigrants in Argentina, including

Ramón Gómez de la Serna Ramón Gómez de la Serna y Puig (3 July 1888 in Madrid – 13 January 1963 in Buenos Aires) was a Spanish writer, dramatist and avant-garde agitator. He strongly influenced surrealist film maker Luis Buñuel. Ramón Gómez de la Serna was esp ...

Rafael Alberti Rafael Alberti Merello (16 December 1902 – 28 October 1999) was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27. He is considered one of the greatest literary figures of the so-called ''Silver Age'' of Spanish Literature, and he won numerou ...

and León Felipe and illustrated the works of her brother and other Argentinian writers like

Victoria Ocampo Ramona Victoria Epifanía Rufina Ocampo (7 April 1890 – 27 January 1979) was an Argentine writer and intellectual. Best known as an advocate for others and as publisher of the literary magazine '' Sur'', she was also a writer and critic in he ...

Adolfo Bioy Casares Adolfo Bioy Casares (; 15 September 1914 – 8 March 1999) was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, diarist, and translator. He was a friend and frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges. He is the author of the Fa ...

, Norah Lange and Julio Cortázar. She designed the scenery of a play by

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

using the techniques of oil, watercolor, engraving, woodcut, and drawings in ink and pencil.

Death and burial

She died in Buenos Aires in 1998, aged 97, and was buried in the family vault in the

La Recoleta Cemetery La Recoleta Cemetery ( es, Cementerio de la Recoleta) is a cemetery located in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, ...

.Efemérides Culturales Argentinas. Jorge Luis Borges: familia
Ministerio de Educación de la Nación. Subsecretaría de Coordinación Administrativa. Página accedida el 21-12-07.

Early life and source of nickname

Early career

Post-war career

Death and burial

References

Further reading