Benito Eduardo Lynch Beaulieu (25 July 1885 – 23 December 1951) was an Argentine novelist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Biography

Lynch was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. He came from a family of Irish origin who settled in the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...

region since the 18th century. They were descendants of Patrick Lynch from

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

. He spent his childhood and adolescence on the large country estate of his grandfather Ventura Lynch. After the estate was sold, the family settled in

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

, the newly built capital of the

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

. Lynch was a lifelong recluse à la

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

, living all his life with two unmarried sisters in a large old house in La Plata. An eccentric, Lynch's quirky short stories have been often filmed and dramatized. He wrote more than a hundred of them, most of them in a neo- ''gauchoesque'' manner that sometimes evokes magic realism. He also strikes a genuinely and authentically popular vein. He was also a sports fan. He played professional soccer in 1901. His club, Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, was founded in 1887 and is now the oldest professional soccer club in America. He played in the first organized match recorded in La Plata. He died in 1951 in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

, a seaside city in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Works

* Plata dorada (1909) * '' The Caranchos of Florida'' (1916) * Raquela (1918) * Las mal calladas (1923) * '' The Englishman of the Bones'' (1924) * El antojo de la patrona (1925) * Palo verde (1925) * '' The Romance of a Gaucho'' (1930) * De los campos porteños (1931) * El estanciero (1931) * Cuentos criollos (1940) Many stories, some worthy of anthologizing, remain uncollected. They appeared in newspapers and reviews of the time such as ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

'', ''El Hogar'', ''Mundo Argentino'', ''Caras y Caretas'' and ''Leoplán''.

References

*Callet-Bois, J: ''La novela rural de Benito Lynch'' with bibliography, A. Sonol, Ed. La Plata, D.D.L., 1960 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Benito 1885 births 1951 deaths Writers from Buenos Aires Argentine male novelists Argentine male short story writers Argentine people of Irish descent 20th-century Argentine novelists 20th-century Argentine short story writers 20th-century Argentine male writers Benito

Biography

Works

See also

References