Juan Carlos Onetti Borges (July 1, 1909 – May 30, 1994) was a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and author of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one 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 oldest t ...

Early life

Onetti was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was the son of Carlos Onetti, a customs official, and Honoria Borges, who belonged to a

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian aristocratic family from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. He had two siblings: an older brother Raul, and a younger sister Rachel. The original surname of his family was O'Nety (of Irish or Scottish origin). The writer himself commented: "the first to come here, my great-great-grandfather, was

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, born in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. My grandfather was the one who italianized the name".

Career

A high school drop-out, Onetti's first novel, ''El pozo'', published in 1939, met with his close friends' immediate acclaim, as well as from some writers and journalists of his time. 500 copies of the book were printed, most of them left to rot at the only bookstore that sold it, Barreiro (the book was not reprinted until the 1960s, with an introduction and preliminary study by Ángel Rama). Aged 30, Onetti was already working as editing secretary of the famous weekly Uruguayan newspaper '' Marcha''. He had lived for some years 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 ...

, where he published short stories and wrote cinema critiques for the local media, and met and befriended novelist and journalist

Roberto Arlt Roberto Arlt (April 26, 1900 – July 26, 1942) was an Argentine novelist, storyteller, playwright, journalist and inventor. Biography He was born Roberto Godofredo Christophersen Arlt in Buenos Aires on April 26, 1900. His parents were bo ...

, author of the novels El juguete rabioso, ''Los siete locos'', Los lanzallamas. He went on to become one of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

's most distinguished writers, earning Uruguay National Literature Prize in 1962. He was considered a senior member of the ' Generation of 45', a Uruguayan intellectual and literary movement: Carlos Maggi, Manuel Flores Mora, Ángel Rama, Emir Rodríguez Monegal, Idea Vilariño, Carlos Real de Azúa, Mauricio Muller,

José Pedro Díaz José Pedro Díaz (January 12, 1921 - July 3, 2006) was a Uruguayan essayist, educator and writer. He is remembered as a member of the '' Generation of 45'', a Uruguayan intellectual and literary movement: Carlos Maggi, Manuel Flores Mora, Á ...

, Amanda Berenguer,

Mario Benedetti Mario Orlando Hardy Hamlet Brenno Benedetti Farrugia (; 14 September 1920 – 17 May 2009), was an Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet and an integral member of the Generación del 45. Despite publishing more than 80 books and being publish ...

, Ida Vitale,

Líber Falco Líber Falco (4 October 1906 – 10 November 1955) was a Uruguayan poet. Biography Born on 4 October 1906 in the neighborhood of Villa Muñoz in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a young man, he worked as a barber, salesman, clerk in a print shop and a ...

, among others. In 1974, he and some of his colleagues were imprisoned by the military dictatorship. Their crime: as members of the jury, they had chosen Nelson Marra's short story ''El guardaespaldas'' (i.e. "The bodyguard") as the winner of ''Marchas annual literary contest. Due to a series of misunderstandings (and the need to fill some space in the following day's edition), ''El guardaespaldas'' was published in ''Marcha'', although it had been widely agreed among them that they shouldn't do so due to its sensitive political themes. Onetti left his native country (and his much-loved city of Montevideo) after being imprisoned for 6 months in ''Colonia Etchepare'', a mental institution. A long list of world-famous writers -including

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

and

– signed open letters addressed to the military government of Uruguay. As soon as he was released, Onetti fled to Spain with his wife, violinist Dorothea Muhr. There he continued his career as a writer, being awarded the most prestigious literary prize in the Spanish-speaking world, the Premio Cervantes. He remained in Madrid until his death there in 1994. He is interred in the Cementerio de la Almudena in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Writing awards

*Uruguay National Literature Prize (1962) *William Faulkner Foundation Ibero-American Award (1963) *Italian-Latin American Institute Prize (1972) * Premio Cervantes (1980)

Selected works ()

*'' El pozo'' (1939) – The Pit *''Tierra de nadie'' (1941) – No Man's Land *''Para esta noche'' (1943) – Tonight *'' La vida breve'' (1950) – A Brief Life *''Un sueño realizado y otros cuentos'' (1951) *''Los adioses'' (1954) *''Para una tumba sin nombre'' (1959) – A Grave with No Name *''La cara de la desgracia'' (1960) *''El astillero'' (1961) – The Shipyard *''Juntacadáveres'' (1964) – Body Snatcher *''Tres novelas'' (1967) *''Cuentos completos'' (1967) *''Los rostros del amor'' (1968) *''Novelas y cuentos cortos completos'' (1968) *''Obras completas'' (1970) *''La muerte y la niña'' (1973) *''Cuentos completos'' (1974) *''Tiempo de abrazar'' (1974) *''Réquiem por Faulkner'' (1975) *''Tan triste como ella y otros cuentos'' (1976) *''Dejemos hablar al viento'' (1979) – Let the Wind Speak *''Cuentos secretos'' (1986) *''Presencia y otros cuentos'' (1986) *''Cuando entonces'' (1987) *''Goodbyes and Other Stories'' (1990) *''Cuando ya no importe'' (1993) – Past Caring

Film adaptations

Uruguayan director Alvaro Brechner adapted "Jacob y el Otro" for his 2009 film Bad day to go fishing ("Mal día para pescar"). The film premiered at 2009

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, and was the Uruguayan candidate for ''Oscar'' Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. There is an Argentinian film based on his short story "El infierno tan temido."

Legacy

An important literary award from Montevideo is named after him: Concurso Literario Juan Carlos Onetti.

References

External links

LookSmart's FindArticles – Projection as a narrative technique in Juan Carlos Onetti's 'Goodbyes'"
– ''Studies in Short Fiction'', Summer, 1994, by Mary-Lee Sullivan
A Reign Not of This World: On Juan Carlos Onetti
by Jonathan Blitzer
Centenario Onetti: Nora Catelli, Andrés Ehrenhaus y Edgardo Dobri en Canal-L de BarcelonaMarchaThe Tender Stories of Juan Carlos Onetti, a Lost Giant of Latin-American Literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onetti, Juan Carlos 1909 births 1994 deaths People from Montevideo Uruguayan people of Brazilian descent Premio Cervantes winners Uruguayan novelists Male novelists Uruguayan prisoners and detainees Uruguayan male short story writers Uruguayan short story writers 20th-century novelists Burials at Cementerio de la Almudena Uruguayan expatriates in Argentina Uruguayan expatriates in Spain 20th-century short story writers 20th-century Uruguayan male writers