Why they accuse Maria Kodama of being the Yoko Ono of literature: the widow of Jorge Luis Borges dies and uncertainty remains as to what will happen to the writer’s legacy

María Kodama was the universal heir of Jorge Luis Borges, who died in 1986. The woman started a close relationship with the writer when she was still a teenager, because she met him when she was 16, and he was already 54. Since then, they became very close and inseparable.

After Kodama’s death on March 26 at the age of 86, today we remember why his name is so closely associated with that of Jorge Luis Borges, as Yoko Ono was at that time with John Lennon.

The widow of the famous Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges died of cancer

Mujer Hoy recalls that both worked to preserve the legacy of those who were considered geniuses in life, Borges in literature and Lennon in music. However, they also have in common the suspicion they have caused among the relatives and relatives of both characters.

In the case of Borges, the writer’s family did not take kindly to María Kodama becoming the universal inheritor of his literary legacy. And yes, she was the poet’s admirer, secretary and confidant for several decades. However, it was in 1986 when they got married by proxy, just two months before the author’s death.

Borges’ death took place in Geneva, Switzerland, and his last will was that his remains remain in that city, where he spent part of his youth. His relatives didn’t like that decision either, who tried to return the remains to their homeland, but without success.

Combining her life with that of Jorge Luis Borges, María Kodama exposed herself to public ridicule, but knew how to deal with it and maintain her discretion until her death.

Who will take care of the works of Jorge Luis Borges?

The professor of literature was in charge of preserving the universal work of Jorge Luis Borges, which she zealously protected and even defended in court cases, such as the 2015 lawsuit against the writer Pablo Katchadjian for alleged plagiarism, according to El País de Spain.

Kodama was a writer, but she did not dare to publish her fiction while Jorge Luis Borges was alive. In fact, it was in 2020 when he published the first volume of stories, and a year later he shared a memory.

Fernando Soto, the lawyer of María Kodama, who also announced her death in a post on Twitter, will be in charge of discovering the destination of the estate of Jorge Luis Borges, which she took care of for decades.

“From now on we will deal with continuity, María was very discreet and we will keep that discretion to announce how we will continue to work with the legacy of Borges,” Soto told Télam, as quoted by Cronista media.

This media reported that María Kodama intended to give Borges’ legacy to two foreign universities, one in Tokyo, Japan, and the other in the United States, although Soto’s lawyer declined to elaborate.

“It will be properly announced. We will not anticipate that discretion is part of the care of Borges’s legacy in the world, not only in Argentina and Japan, where Maria’s ancestors are and where Borges’s work is so learned, or the United States, a country painted for the affection of the common remains”, he expressed. (AND)