Pedro Mata y Fontanet (1811-1877) was a Spanish medical doctor referenced by the 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, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

in his work "

The Analytical Language of John Wilkins "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" (Spanish: "El idioma analítico de John Wilkins") is a short essay by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, first printed in ''La Nación'' on 8 February 1942 and subsequently published in ''Otras Inquisici ...

". Mata is cited as having written a book entitled ''Curso de lengua universal'' or ''The Study of Universal Language'', which was purportedly written in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1886.Borges, Jorge Luis. ''Obras Completas'', 1952-1972. Otras Inquisiciones. ''El idioma analítico de John Wilkins''. Emecé Editores, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996, p. 86. Borges' piece on John Wilkins focused on an attempt at creating a universal language. The calle del Doctor Mata, a street in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, is named in honor of Pedro Mata y Fontanet. Dr. Mata is also referenced, humorously (his family name means " e''kills''"), in

Ángel Ganivet Ángel Ganivet García (13 December 1865 in Granada, Spain – 29 November 1898 in Riga) was a Spanish writer and diplomat. He was considered a precursor to the Generation of '98. On 29 November 1898, disillusioned in love, Ganivet drowned hi ...

's novel ''Los trabajos del infatigable creador Pío Cid.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Pedro Jorge Luis Borges Civil governors of Madrid 19th-century Spanish physicians