The news of the death of the writer and translator María Kodama, who died on March 26 at the age of 86 in the Buenos Aires town of Vicente López, opened up a series of questions about the future of Jorge Luis Borges’ books. It is that Kodama, in addition to being the widow of the author of fictions, whom he married in 1986, had been designated “universal heir” and executor of the writer. A work that, due to the relevance of the figure of the greatest Argentine author, is of worldwide interest.
What will happen to the legacy of Jorge Luis Borges after the death of María Kodama
Further
During the last hours, the lawyer Fernando Soto, a lawyer and close friend of Kodama, had pointed out at a press conference that the writer did not leave a will with precise indications about Borges’s literary legacy and that his heritage could pass into the hands of the State .
At the same time, he reported that he appeared before the Civil Justice to initiate a file for vacant inheritance and a succession trial. It is in this context that in the last hours, as revealed by the Infobae portal, Kodama’s nephews, sons of his brother Jorge, appeared before court 33 of the National Civil Appeals Chamber to be considered as heirs in that proceedings.
“We introduce ourselves in our capacity as nephews of the deceased, MARÍA KODAMA, who died on March 26, 2023, as is public knowledge and we will timely accredit the requested item. online which is in process”, details the letter published exclusively by that medium, and is sponsored by the lawyer María Victoria Kodama on behalf of Martín, Nicolás and María Belén Kodama.
“By virtue of the foregoing, we request that a declaration of heirs be issued in due time for the death of Mrs. María Kodama in favor of Mariana del Socorro, Martín Nicolás, María Victoria, Matías and María Belén Kodama, on behalf of her predeceased father Jorge Kodama, brother of the deceased”, they continued.
In the text, which can be consulted online, they also requested a “provisional inventory order and seizure of movable property” taking into account “the existence of movable property, important literary works, prizes and decorations owned by the deceased and her spouse, manuscripts, photographs, journalistic material, property titles and everything related to the life of both the deceased and her spouse, all of great literary and historical value that must be safeguarded. For this, Kodama’s nephews requested in the letter, among other things, inspections in two departments and at the headquarters of the Borges Foundation.
Conference and doubts
During this Monday, the lawyer Soto called a press conference to give alleged details of the Borges legacy. In fact, he himself had given statements to different media in which he maintained that Kodama had left everything ready in this regard. “She left everything arranged, she will find out,” he said hours after the writer’s death.
However, nothing that had been suggested happened at the press conference called in the study that the lawyer has on the Buenos Aires microcenter. “He did not leave a will,” Kodama’s lawyer and member of the Jorge Luis Borges International Foundation, created in 1988 by the widow of the author of fictions. And then she clarified: “Her trusted notary public has no will. No one in the close circle among whom we consulted knows the will. If at the moment of entering her house a will is found, that will be taken, but the chances are very low ”.
As long as there are no heirs or a disposition, that inheritance will pass into the public domain, in this case the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the lawyer confirmed in the meeting with the press. Immediately, doubts and questions spread among the journalists present, as reconstructed by the Télam agency.
“Why didn’t Kodama, who defended Borges’ work ”like a samurai”, leave a will?” was the question that most intrigued those present. “It was his life, he never cared about assets,” Soto explained. She did not want to talk about finiteness, so much so that Borges did not tell her that she was his heir. She found out later,” added Soto.
The lawyer quickly cut himself short and said that in the face of “some controversy in the Kodama environment”, he decided to appear before the court yesterday: “I appeared today before the judge as an interested person, because the Civil Code establishes that any interested person can request measures protection of assets,” he said.
Soto then released a document that specifies the steps to follow to determine how the fate of Borges’s literary heritage will be determined. “In legal time and form and in accordance with the provisions of arts. 529 2nd. part, 532, 536, 2438, 2441, 2444 and concordant of the Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation and the provisions of local Law no. 52, I come to initiate the succession by Vacant Inheritance of Mrs. María Kodama”, says the statement.
I am very happy and it relieves my spirit that María Kodama’s nephews have presented themselves as heirs in the inheritance file. A new stage opens in the protection of the Work of Borges.
— Fernando Soto (@Doctor_Soto) April 4, 2023
“Hopefully an heir relative will show up. They have up to 10 years to present themselves, they have to claim the inheritance in the State they are in,” he explained about the eventuality of an heir appearing, something that was confirmed in the last few hours and that the lawyer himself celebrated on his Twitter account.
“I am very happy and it relieves my spirit that María Kodama’s nephews have presented themselves as heirs in the inheritance file. A new stage is opening in the protection of Borges’ work,” Soto wrote.
MA with information from Télam