María Kodama Schweizer (10 March 1937 – 26 March 2023) was an Argentine writer and translator. The widow of author

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 regarded as a key figure in Spanish literature, Spanish-language and international literatur ...

, she was the sole owner of his estate after his death in 1986. Borges had bequeathed to Kodama his rights as author in a will written in 1979, when she was his literary secretary, and bequeathed to her his whole estate in 1985. They were married in 1986, shortly before Borges' death.

Biography

Kodama was the daughter of an Argentine mother of Swiss-German, English and Spanish descent and a Japanese father. She met Borges when she was a student, at one of his lectures in Buenos Aires on

Icelandic literature Icelandic literature refers to literature written in Iceland or by Icelandic people. It is best known for the sagas written in medieval times, starting in the 13th century. As Icelandic and Old Norse are almost the same, and because Icelandic wo ...

. After the death in 1975 of Borges's ninety-nine-year-old mother, Leonor Acevedo, with whom he had lived all his life, Kodama became Borges’s literary secretary and had the opportunity—at the invitation of Borges's caretaker, "Fanny"—to assist him as a blind old man in his frequent travels abroad during his later years, when he received many invitations by institutions from around the world. Kodama helped Borges write, as he had lost his sight. She collaborated with him in ''Breve antología anglosajona'' (1978) and ''Atlas'' (1984, an account of their travels together) and in the translation of the '' Younger Edda'' by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

Kodama married Borges through representatives in a civil proceeding in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

on 26 April 1986. This was a common practice for Argentines wishing to circumvent the restrictions on divorce in their country at the time, and Borges was already married once but for many years estranged from his first wife. At the time of the wedding, Borges was terminally ill and died of cancer in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, on 14 June 1986. Kodama was president of the ''Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges'', which she founded 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 ...

in 1988. After Borges's death, Kodama renegotiated the English translation rights of his works. In particular, she terminated a longstanding agreement between Borges and the translator

Norman Thomas di Giovanni Norman Thomas di Giovanni (October 3, 1933 – February 16, 2017) was an American-born editor and translator known for his collaboration with Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. Biography Di Giovanni was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1933, ...

under which royalties for a number of translations on which they collaborated were divided equally between author and translator. New translations by Andrew Hurley were commissioned and published to replace the di Giovanni translations, which were allowed to go out of print. Kodama's assertive administration of the Borges estate also resulted in a bitter dispute with the French publisher Gallimard regarding the republication of the complete works of Borges in French, with Pierre Assouline in ''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines ...

'' (August 2006) calling her "an obstacle to the dissemination of the works of Borges". Kodama took legal action against Assouline, considering the remark unjustified and defamatory, asking for a symbolic compensation of one euro. Kodama died on 26 March 2023 at the age of 86, in Vicente López,

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...

. Kodama left no will and the status of Borges' work is uncertain.NYTimes, Gunzlinger, Neil

Bibliography

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References

External links

Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kodama, Maria 1937 births 2023 deaths Argentine women writers Argentine people of Japanese descent Writers from Buenos Aires Argentine agnostics Argentine people of Swiss-German descent Argentine people of English descent Argentine people of Spanish descent Jorge Luis Borges University of Buenos Aires alumni 20th-century Argentine translators