Ricardo Güiraldes

Ricardo Güiraldes (13 February 1886 – 8 October 1927) was an Argentine novelist and poet, one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era, particularly known for his 1926 novel Don Segundo Sombra, set amongst the gauchos.

Life Güiraldes was born in Buenos Aires, the second son of a wealthy family of the old landowning aristocracy. His mother was Dolores Goñi, descendant of Ruiz de Arellano, who founded the village of San Antonio de Areco in 1730. Manuel Güiraldes, his father, later intendente (governmentally appointed mayor) of Buenos Aires,

Güiraldes's childhood and youth were divided between the family ranch, La Porteña in San Antonio de Areco, and Buenos Aires. Güiraldes returned to Argentina, then went back to Europe in 1922, where besides returning to Paris he passed some time in Port de Pollença, Mallorca, where he rented a house.

In this period he underwent an intellectual and spiritual change. He became interested in theosophy and Eastern philosophy, seeking spiritual peace; this is strongly reflected in his late poetry.

At the same time, Güiraldes's writing became more accepted in his native Buenos Aires, where he became a supporter of new avant-garde writers; he was something of an elder and teacher to the Florida group. In 1924, along with Alfredo Brandán Caraffa (1898–1978), Jorge Luis Borges, and Pablo Rojas Paz he founded the short-lived magazine Proa, which was not particularly successful in its home city but met with a better reception elsewhere in Latin America. Güiraldes also co-founded the Frente Ứnico, opposed to pompierismo (the use of dry or pompous academic language in writing), and collaborated in the publication of the magazine Martín Fierro. Güiraldes's body was brought back to Buenos Aires and finally entombed in San Antonio de Areco. 1915: Cuentos de muerte y sangre (short stories) 1917: Un idilio de estación, later revised as Rosaura (1922), published in Rosaura y siete cuentos. Short novel. 1923: Xaimaca (fictionalized travel story). 1926: Don Segundo Sombra (novel) 1928: Poemas místicos (posthumously published, poems) 1928: Poemas solitarios (posthumously published poems) 1929: Seis relatos (posthumously published short stories) 1932: El sendero (posthumously published) 1936: El libro bravo (posthumously published poems) 1954: Pampa (posthumously published) 1952: El pájaro blanco (poem)