Horacio Quiroga

Horacio Silvestre Quiroga Forteza (31 December 1878 – 19 February 1937) was a Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer. The jungle settings of his stories emphasized the conflict between humans and nature. His portrayals of mental illness and hallucinatory states were influenced by Edgar Allan Poe. In turn, Quiroga influenced Gabriel García Márquez and Julio Cortázar.

Youth

Horacio Quiroga was born in the city of Salto in 1878 as the sixth child and second son of Prudencio Quiroga and Pastora Forteza, a middle-class family. At the time of his birth, his father had been working for 18 years as head of the Argentine vice-consulate. Before Quiroga was two and a half months old, on 14 March 1879, his father accidentally fired a gun he was carrying in his hands and died as a result. Quiroga was baptized three months later in the parish church of his native town.

Development

Quiroga finished school in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. He studied at the National College and also attended the Polytechnic Institute of Montevideo for technical training. From a very young age, he showed great interest in a variety of subjects and activities including literature, chemistry, photography, mechanics, cycling and country life. Around this time he founded the Salto Cycling Club and achieved the remarkable feat of cycling from his home town to Paysandú, a distance of 120 kilometres (74½ miles)

It was also around this time that he worked in a machinery repair shop; under the influence of the owner's son he became interested in philosophy, describing himself as a "forthright and passionate foot soldier of materialism."