Alberto Gerchunoff (January 1, 1883)

Gerchunoff was a Russian/Ukranian-born writer who emigrated to Argentina in 1890 as a small child; his family moved there under sponsorship of a project to settle Eastern European Jews on the Argentine frontier. In his adopted country, Gerchunoff became a journalist and novelist; he was recognized as an important cultural figure. Borges noted his “elegant turn of phrase” in both prose and conversation according to the Enclopedia of Latin American and Carribean Literature. His most famous stories depict Jewish life in the cowboy villages where he grew up, titled The Jewish Gauchos. His insight into the lives of these essentially forgotten people is exciting.