Elsa Isabel Bornemann was born on 20 February 1952 in the neighbourhood of
Parque Patricios in
Buenos Aires City. She was the daughter of Wilhelm Karl Henri Bornemann, a German immigrant, and Blanca Nieves (Blancanieves) Fernández, an Argentine of Portuguese and Spanish descent, and was the youngest of three sisters. She obtained the teacher qualification of
Maestra Normal Nacional at the
Escuela Normal No. 11 Ricardo Levene. She earned a degree in Literature from the
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires, completed a doctorate, and obtained several study diplomas in
English,
German,
Italian,
Latin,
Ancient Greek and
Hebrew. She taught at all educational levels, delivered numerous courses and lectures, and participated in a variety of round tables and juries. During the last
military dictatorship that governed
Argentina, self-styled the
National Reorganization Process, her book
Un elefante ocupa mucho espacio was
censored and she was included among banned authors. That book was included in the 1976 Honour List of the
International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) of the
Hans Christian Andersen Award, making her the first Argentine to be recognized in such a manner. Later, her books
El último Mago o Bilembambudín and
Disparatario were selected for inclusion in the White Ravens list, a distinction awarded by the
International Youth Library in Munich, Germany. She undertook numerous courses and workshops on literature with Professor Manuel Kedes in Argentina as well as in
the Americas,
Europe and
Japan. She wrote poetry, novels and short stories, exploring themes such as love, humour and horror. Many of her works have been reproduced in primary-school readers, literature textbooks for different levels, and Argentine and international anthologies. Some of her books like
Socorro or
Queridos monstruos sold more than 100 thousands copies. In 2004, the
Konex Foundation awarded Merit Diplomas to one hundred distinguished figures of the decade 1994–2003 in Argentine Letters. In the last twenty years, editions of her books published by Alfaguara have exceeded two million copies. She died on 24 May 2013 in
Buenos Aires,
Argentina. == Tributes ==