ABSTRACT

Considered to be the ' grandfather of Jewish letters in Latin America, Alberto Gerchunoff is the author of the influential The Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas (1910), which he published in honor of the first centennial of the Argentine Republic, as a token of appreciation from the Jewish community for the open embrace with which the nation had embraced the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who began to arrive in the late nineteenth century. Gerchunoff began his life speaking Yiddish and Russian, but as soon as he immigrated to South America he switched to Spanish. He became an influential intellectual and leader until World War II, and was a role model for Borges and others in successive literary generations. Other books by Gerchunoff include Nuestro Senor Don Quijote (Our Lord, Don Quixote, 1913), El problema judío (The Jewish Problem, 1945), and Argentina, fats de advenimiento (Argentina, Forward-Looking Country, 1952). This autobiographical essay was left unpublished at Gerchunoff's death. It showcases his personal interests at the time of composition of The Jewish Gauchos. It was published in English translation in the anthology King David's Harp (1999), edited by Stephen A. Sadow.