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Julio Cortázar was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1914, of Argentine parents. When he was four years old, his family returned to Buenos Aires, Argentina. After finishing his studies at the University of Buenos Aires, he became a professor of French literature at the University of Cuyo, Mendoza in the middle 1940s.
In 1951, in opposition to Peron's regime, Cortázar emigrated to France, where he lived until his death. From 1952 he worked for UNESCO as a translator. He translated among others Robinson Crusoe and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe into Spanish, Poe's influence is also recognizable in his work.
Cortázar died of leukemia in Paris in 1984. The theory by which he suffered from AIDS was never proved.
Cortázar's best-known novels are The Winners (1965), Hopscotch (1966) and A Manual for Manuel (1978).
The most successful Cortázar's work, Hopscotch, ranks among the most important literary experiments of the second half of the 20th century. He broke various clichés; for example, the narration is not linear and the chapters can be read in two different orders.
Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow-Up is based on a short story by Cortázar.
Biography
Notable works
Novels
External link