Early life
Horacio Quiroga was born in Salto, Uruguay in 1878 as the sixth child to a middle class family. At the time of his birth, his father worked for eighteen years as head of the Vice-Consulate Argentine Break. Before Quiroga was two and half months old, on March 14th of 1879 his father accidentally fired a gun he carried in his hand and died. Quiroga was baptized just about 3 months later in the parish of his birth town.
His national origin is not entirely clear, having many conflicting reports about whether, besides baptism, he was registered as a citizen of Argentina in Uruguay, or not. It is expressed in several sources that his birth was registered in the Consulate of Argentina which operated in that city and by the fact his father exercising the office of consul of that country.
Training and travels
Quiroga finished school in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. He studied at the National College and also attended Polytechnic Institute of Montevideo fortechnical training. He showed enormous interest in a variety of subjects, such as literature, chemistry, photography, mechanics, cycling and country life. He founded the Cycling Society of Salto and achieved the remarkable feat of uniting bicycle cities of Salto and Paysandu (120 km).
During this time he worked in a repair shop and it was under the influence of the owner's son that he became interested in philosophy. He described the man as a, "frank and passionate soldier of materialistic philosophy."
When he was 22, Quiroga put out his poetic feelers and discovered the poetry of Leopoldo Lugones and Edgar Allan Poe and would become a personal friend of the former. The discovery of these authors moved him to dabble in various schools and styles: post-romanticism, Symbolism and modernism. Armed with this background, he soon began to publish his poems in his hometown. As he continued studying, working with publications and Reform Magazine he improved his style and became well-known.
During a carnival of 1898, the young poet met his first love, a girl named Mary Esther Jurkovski, who would inspire two of his most important works: The Slaughter (1920) and A Season of Love. Sadly, the misunderstandings caused by the parents of the young girl, who disapproved of the relationship because Quiroga wasn't Jewish, reached a crisis and the parents separated them.
In his hometown he founded a magazine called Revista de Salto (1899). Also this year, his step-father committed suicide by shooting himself and Quiroga found the body. With the money he received as inheritance he went on a four month trip to Paris. The trip was a failure and he came back sad and discouraged.
The Consistory of the Gay Saber and early books
Upon returning to his country, Quiroga gathered his friends Federico Ferrando, Alberto Brignole, July Jaureche, Fernandez Saldaña, Jose Hasd and Asdrubal Delgado, and with them founded the "Consistory of the Gay Saber" (The Consistency of Poetic Knowledge), a literary laboratory for their experimental writing where they found new ways to express themselves and their modernist goals.
In 1901, Quiroga published his first book, Coral Reefs, but this achievement was overshadowed by the deaths of his two brothers, Prudencio and Pastora, who were victims of Typhoid fever in Chaco. The fateful year of 1901 still held another horrible surprise for the writer: his friend Federico Ferrando, had received bad reviews from Germain Papini, a Montevideo journalist, and challenged him to a duel. Quiroga, worried about the safety of Ferrando, offered to check and clean the gun that was to be used. Unexpectedly, while inspecting the weapon, he accidentally fired off a shot that hit Ferrando in the mouth, killing him instantly. When the police arrived, Quiroga was arrested, interrogated and transferred to a correctional prison. The police investigated the unfortunate circumstances of the homicide and deemed the incident accidental, releasing Quiroga after four days of detention. He was eventually exonerated.
Wracked with grief and guilt over the death of his beloved friend, Quiroga dissolved "The Consistory" and moved from Uruguay to Argentina. He crossed the Rio de la Plata in 1902 and went to live with Mary, one of his sisters. In Buenos Aires, the artist reached professional maturity, which would reach its climax during his stays in the jungle. In addition, his sister introduced him to pedagogy, and found him work as a teacher under contract on the board of examination for the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. He was appointed professor of Castilian in the British School of Buenos Aires in March 1903.
From Chaco back to Buenos Aires
In June of that year, Quiroga, already an experienced photographer, would follow Leopoldo Lugones on an expedition, funded by the Ministry of Education, in which the famous Argentine poet planned to investigate some ruins of Jesuit missions in the province. The jungle missionary left a profound impression on Quiroga that marked his life forever: he spent six months and the last of his inheritance (seven thousand pesos) on some land for cotton in Chaco, located seven kilometers from Resistance, next to the Saladito River. The project failed, due to problems with his aboriginal workers, but Quiroga's life was enriched by experiencing life as a country man for the first time. His narrative benefited his from his new knowledge of country people and rural culture; this permanently changed his style.
Upon returning to Buenos Aires after his failed experience in the Chaco, Quiroga embraced the short story with passion and energy. In 1904 he published a book of stories called The Crime of Another , which was heavily influenced by the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Quiroga did not mind these early comparisons with Poe, and until the end of his life he would often say that Poe was his first and principle teacher.
Quiroga worked for the next two years on a multitude of stories, many were about rural terror, but others were delightful stories for children. During this time he wrote the magnificent horror story, "The Feather Pillow". It was published in 1907 by a famous magazine in Argentina, Faces and Masks, which went on to publish eight of his other stories that year. Shortly after it was published, Quiroga became famous and his writings were eagerly sought by thousands of readers.
Love and the jungle
In 1906 Quiroga decided to return to his beloved jungle. Taking advantage of the fact that the government wanted the land to be used, Quiroga bought a farm (with Vincent Gozalbo) of 185 hectares in the province of Misiones, on the banks of the Upper Parana, and began making preparations, while teaching Castilian and Literature nearby. He moved in during the winter of 1908 building the bungalow where he would live.
Quiroga fell in love with one of his teenage students, Ana Maria Cires, to whom he would dedicate his first novel, entitled, History of a Troubled Love. Quiroga insisted on the relationship despite the opposition of her parents, eventually garnering their permission to marry her and take her to live in the jungle with him. Quiroga's parents-in-law were concerned about the risks of living in Misiones, a wild region, and that is why they decided to join their daughter and son-in-law, and live close by in order to help them. So, Ana Maria's parents and a friend of her mother, moved into a house near the Quiroga.
In 1911 Ana Maria gave birth to the couple's first child, at their home in the jungle; they named her Egle Quiroga. During the same year the writer began farming in partnership with his friend, fellow Uruguayan, Vicente Gozalbo, and was also appointed Justice of the Peace in the Civil Registry of San Ignacio. This job was not the best fit for Quiroga who, forgetful, disorganized and careless, took to the habit of jotting down deaths, marriages and births on small pieces of paper and "archived" them in a cookie tin. Later, a character of one of his stories was given similar trait.
The following year Ana Maria gave birth to a son, named Darius. Quiroga decided, just as the children were learning to walk, that he would personally take care of their education. Stern and dictatorial, Quiroga demanded that every little detail was done according to his requirements. From a young age, his children got used to the mountains and jungle. Quiroga exposed them to danger (risk-free danger) so that they would be able to cope alone and overcome any situation. He even went as far as to leave them alone one night in the jungle, or another time made them sit on the edge of a cliff with their legs dangling in the void. The daughter learned to breed wild animals and the son to use the shotgun, ride a bike and sail alone in a canoe. Quiroga's children never refused to be part of these experiences and, actually, enjoyed them. Their mother, however, was terrified and exasperated.
Between 1912 and 1915 the writer, who already had experience as cotton farmer and herbalist, undertook a bold pursuit to increase the farming and maximize the natural resources of their lands. He began to distill oranges, produce coal and resins, as well as, many other similar activities. Meanwhile, he raised livestock, domesticated wild animals, hunted and fished. Literature continued to be the peak of his life: in the journal Fray Mocho de Buenos Aires Quiroga published numerous stories, many set in the jungle and populated by characters so naturalistic that they seemed real.
But Quiroga's wife was not happy: she failed to adapt to jungle life and asked her husband, again and again, to return to Buenos Aires or, if he wanted to stay, to let her return alone. When Quiroga refused both possibilities she became immersed in a serious depression. So Ana Maria would become a new tragedy in Quiroga's life when she committed suicide by consuming mercury poisoning in 1915 after a violent fight with the writer. She suffered in terrible agony for eight days, dying in horrible pain and leaving Quiroga and children plunged into the darkest despair.
Buenos Aires
After this tragedy, Quiroga quickly left for Buenos Aires with his children where he became an Under-Secretary General Accountant in the Uruguayan Consulat, with the efforts of some of his friends who wanted to help. Throughout the year 1917 Quiroga lived in a basement with his children on Avenue Canning, alternating his diplomatic work with setting up a home office and working on many stories, which were being published in prestigious magazines. Quiroga collected most of the stories in several books, the first was Tales of Love, Madness and Death (1917). Manuel Galvez, owner of a publishing firm, had suggested that he write it and the the volume immediately became a huge success with audiences and critics, consolidating Quiroga as the true master of the Latin American short story.
The following year he settled in a small apartment on Calle Agüero, while he published Jungle Tales (1918, a collection of children's stories featuring animals and set in the Misiones rainforest). Quiroga dedicated this book to his children, who accompanied him during that rough period of poverty in the damp basement.
1919 was a good year for Quiroga, with two major promotions in the consular ranks and the publication of his new book of stories, The Wild. The next year, following the idea of "The Consistory", Quiroga founded the Anaconda Association, a group of intellectuals involved in cultural activities in Argentina and Uruguay. His only play, The Slaughtered, was published in 1920 and was released in 1921, when Anaconda was released (another book of short stories). An important Argentine newspaper, La Nation, also began to publish his stories, which by now already enjoyed impressive popularity. Between 1922 and 1924, Quiroga served as secretary of a cultural embassy to Brazil and he published his new book: The Desert (stories).
For a while the writer was devoted to film criticism, taking charge of the magazine section of "Atlantis, The Home and The Nation". He also wrote the screenplay for a feature film (The Florida Raft) that was never filmed. Shortly thereafter, was invited to form a School of Cinematography, by Russian investors, but it was unsuccessful.
New love and some hobbies
Soon after, Quiroga returned to Misiones. He was in love again, this time with a 22-year-old Ana Maria Palacio. He tried to persuade her parents to let her go to live in the jungle with him. The constant refusal of the parents and the consequent failure of love inspired the theme of his second novel, Past love (published later, in 1929). The novel contains autobiographical elements of the strategies he used himself to get the girl, like, leaving messages in a hollowed branch, sending letters written in code and trying to dig a long tunnel to her room with thoughts of kidnap. Finally the parents grew tired of Quiroga's attempts and took her away so he was forced to renounce his love.
In the workshop in his home where he would build a boat baptized Gaviota. His home was on the water and he used the boat to go from San Ignacio downriver to Buenos Aires and on numerous river expeditions.
In early 1926 Quiroga returned to Buenos Aires and rented a villa in a suburban area. At the very apex of his popularity, a major publisher honored him, along with other literary figures of the time such as Arturo Capdevila, Baldomero Fernandez Moreno, Benito Lynch, Joan of Ibarbourou, Armando Donoso and Luis Franco.
A lover of classical music, Quiroga came often to the concerts of the Wagner Association. He also tirelessly read technical texts, manuals on mechanics, and books on arts and physics.
In 1927, Quiroga had decided to raise and domesticate wild animals, while publishing his new book of short stories, Exiles. But the amorous artist had already set his eyes on what would be his last and final love: Maria Elena Bravo, a classmate of his daughter Egle, who married him that year, not even 20 years old (He was 49).
Back to the jungle
In 1932 Quiroga last settled in Misiones, where he would retire, with his wife and third daughter (Maria Elena, called Pitoca ", who was born in 1928). To do this, he got a decree transferring his consular office to a nearby city. He was devoted to living quietly in the jungle with his wife and daughter.
But due to a change of government, his services were declined and he was expelled from the consulate. To exacerbate Quiroga's problems, his wife did not like living in the jungle, so fighting and violent discussions became a daily activity.
In this time of frustration and pain he published a collection of short stories titled Beyond (1935). From his interest in the work of Munthe and Ibsen, Quiroga began reading new authors and styles, and began planning his autobiography.
Disease and death
In 1935 Quiroga began to experience uncomfortable symptoms, apparently related to prostatitis or other prostate disease. With intensifying the pain and difficulty urinating, his wife managed to convince him to go to Posadas, where he was diagnosed with prostate hypertrophy.
But the problems continued for the Quiroga family: his wife and daughter left him permanently, leaving him alone and sick in the jungle. They went back to Buenos Aires, and the writer's spirits fell completely in the face of this serious loss.
When he could not stand the disease anymore, Quiroga traveled to Buenos Aires for treatment. In 1937, an exploratory surgery revealed that he suffered from an advanced case of prostate cancer, untreatable and inoperable. Maria Elena and his large group of friends came to comfort him.
When Quiroga was in the Emergency Ward, he had learned that a patient was shut up in the basement with hideous deformities similar to those of the infamous English Joseph Merrick (the "Elephant Man"). Taking pity, Quiroga demanded that the patient, named Vicent Batistessa, be released from confinement and moved into his room. As expected, Batistessa befriended and paid eternal gratitude to the great storyteller.
Feeling desperate about his present suffering and realizing that his life was over, he told Batistessa his plan to shorten his suffering and Batistessa promised to help. That morning (February 19, 1937) in the presence of his friend, Horacio Quiroga drank a glass of cyanide that killed him within minutes from unbearable pains.
His body was buried in the Casa del Teatro de la Sociedad Argentina de Escritores (SADE), of which he was the founder and vice president, though, his remains were later repatriated to his homeland.
Follower of the modernist school founded by Ruben Dario and being an obsessive reader of Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant, Quiroga was attracted to topics covering the most intriguing aspects of nature, often tinged with horror, disease and suffering for human beings. Many of his stories belong to this movement, embodied in his work Tales of Love, Madness and Death.
Quiroga was also influenced by British writer Rudyard Kipling (Book of the Wilderness), which is shown in his own Jungle Tales, a delightful exercise in fantasy divided into several stories featuring animals.
His Ten Rules for the Perfect Storyteller, dedicated to young writers, provides certain contradictions in his own work. While the Decalogue touts economic and precise style, using a few adjectives, natural and simple wording and clarity of expression, in many of his own stories Quiroga did not follow his own precepts, using ornate language, with plenty of adjectives and at times ostentatious vocabulary.
As he further developed his particular style, Quiroga evolved into realistic portraits (often anguished and desperate) of the wild nature around him in Misiones: the jungle, the river, wildlife, climate and terrain, make up the scaffolding and scenery in which his characters move, suffer and often die. Especially in his stories Quiroga describes the tragedy that haunts the miserable rural workers in the region, the dangers and sufferings to which they are exposed and how this existential pain is perpetuated to succeeding generations. He also experimented with many subjects considered taboo in the society of early twentieth century.
Some scholars find parallels between Quiroga's apparent fascination with death, accidents and illness (comparable to Edgar Allan Poe and Baudelaire) and his incredibly tragic life.
Analysis of work
In his first book, Coral Reefs, consisting of 18 poems, 30 pages of poetic prose and 4 stories, Quiroga shows his immaturity and adolescent confusion. On the other hand, he shows a glimpse of the modernist style and naturalistic elements that would come to characterize his later work.
His two novels: History of a Troubled Love and Past Love deal with the same theme that haunted the author in his personal life: love affairs between older men and teenage girls. In the first novel Quiroga divided the action into three parts. In the first, a 9 year old girl falls in love with an older man. In the second part, it is eight years later and the man, who had noticed her affection, begins to woo her. The third part is the present tense of the novel, in which it has been ten years since the young girl left the man. In Past Love history repeats itself: a grown man returns to a place after years of absence, and falls for a young woman he had loved as a child.
Knowing the personal history of Quiroga, the two novels feature some autobiographical components for example, the protagonist in History of a Trouble Love is named Egle (the name of Quiroga's daughter, whose classmate he later married). Also, in these novels there is a great deal of emphasis on the opposition of the girls' parents, rejection that Quiroga had accepted as part of his life and that he always had to deal with.
The critics never liked his novels and called his only play The Slaughtered "a mistake" and called his most transcendent works the short stories, which stimulated all Latin American short stories after him. This makes sense as Quiroga was the first to be concerned about the technical aspects of the short story, tirelessly honing his style (for which he always returns to the same subjects) to reach the almost perfection in his last works.
Though clearly influenced by modernism, he gradually begins to turn the decadent Uruguayan language, to describing the natural surroundings with meticulous precision. But he makes it clear that Nature's relationship with man is always in conflict. Loss, injury, misery, failures, starvation, death and animal attacks, plague Quiroga's human characters because hostile Nature almost always wins.
Quiroga's morbid obsession with the torment and death is much more easily accepted by the characters than by the reader: in the narrative technique the author uses he presents players accustomed to risk and danger, playing by clear and specific rules. They know not to make mistakes because the forest is unforgiving, and failure often means death. Nature is blind but fair, and the attacks on the farmer or fisherman (a swarm of angry bees, an alligator, a bloodsucking parasite etc.) are simply obstacles in a horrible game in which the Man tries to snatch property or natural resources (such as Quiroga tried to in real life) and Nature absolutely refuses to let go; an unequal struggle that usually ends with the human loss, dementia, death or simply the disappointment.
Sensitive, excitable, given to impossible love, thwarted in his commercial enterprises but still highly creative, Quiroga waded through his tragic life and suffered through nature to construct, with the eyes of a careful observer, narrative work which critics considered "autobiographical poetry". Perhaps it is this "internal realism" or the "organic" nature of his writing that created the irresistible charm that Quiroga still has on readers today.
