Maria Kodama, Borges’ wife dies

Borges’s eyes went out. The wife of the famous Argentine writer, Maria Kodama, her precious assistant for years, in turn a writer and translator, custodian of the literary work of the genius she had married, died after a long illness in Buenos Aires at the age of 86.

He was the most visionary of South American writers, she was his vision for years, for him that was left without, even if this health incident has never affected the clarity of his reasoning, the development of his thought.

The two had a big age difference. He was from the last year of 1800, she, a German mother and a Japanese father, was from 1937. They met when she was 12 and she apparently was struck by it. In 1975 she became her assistant and began that symbiotic relationship that made her the eyes of the writer. Many allusions and nastiness about the age difference, which the two have always overcome in practice, with the persistence of their union. Kodama also helped Borges in the drafting of some works, such as “Breve Anglo-Saxon Anthology” of 1978 and “Atlante” of 1984 and in some translations. The marriage dates back to 1986: the two were married in Paraguay, but only two months later Borges died. However, the human and professional partnership for the two never ended. Those two short years of married life were only the consecration of a long-lasting union of intentions. And Maria Kodama in fact continued to look after her husband’s work.

«We were a bit crazy for the time, in the sense that we didn’t have any prejudices. She called me every day and my mother went crazy », said Borges’ widow in one of the many interviews granted. Since the death of her husband, the writer has continued to travel the world and talk about her work and her man, in many conferences. Lei kodama founded and was president of the Jorge Luis Borges International Foundation based in Buenos Aires, which disseminates the writer’s work and carries forward its correct interpretation.

“I distrust immortality, but this is not a reason for sadness for me but for happiness: to think that I will cease”, claimed the author of “Fictions”, very close to the Nobel, never obtained, inspirer of other great writers, from Calvino to Bolaño . Those who knew him intimately leave with Kodama, the last great witness of the Great Blind.