Oliverio Girondo

Oliverio Girondo, born on August seventeenth, nineteen ninety-one in Buenos Aires, emerged as a prominent Argentine poet, journalist, and writer. His affluent upbringing afforded him the opportunity to travel extensively throughout Europe, where he honed his literary skills in both Paris and England. During the vibrant decade of the 1920s, Girondo became a key figure in the avant-garde journal Martín Fierro, which heralded the arrival of ultraism, the first vanguardist movement to take root in Argentina.

Girondo's early poetry was characterized by its vivid colors and sharp irony, transcending the conventional admiration for nature that was prevalent at the time. Instead, he celebrated the cosmopolitan lifestyle, both lauding its vibrancy and critiquing the societal norms that accompanied it. His work resonated with contemporaries such as Jorge Luis Borges, Raúl González Tuñón, and Macedonio Fernández, as well as Norah Lange, whom he married in nineteen forty-three after meeting her at a banquet in nineteen twenty-six.

As an enthusiastic proponent of the ultraist movement, Girondo significantly influenced a new generation of poets, including Enrique Molina, with whom he collaborated on translating Arthur Rimbaud's “Una temporada en el infierno.” His literary circle also included notable figures like Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca, with whom he forged lasting friendships in nineteen thirty-four while both were in Buenos Aires.

In the early nineteen fifties, Girondo ventured into painting, exploring surrealism, although he chose not to publish or sell any of his artworks. His legacy endures, and he rests in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, a testament to his contributions to Argentine literature and culture.