Uruguay - Culture: Horacio Quiroga

There's a story about a pretty young bride who dies in a large, quiet house. She doesn't die right away. Her life just fades away slowly. After this woman, Alicia, dies, her servant finds something very odd and scary under her pillow. It is an ugly animal with hairy legs. This animal had been sucking Alicia's blood while she slept.

An Uruguayan wrote this short story, called "The Feather Pillow." His name was Horacio Quiroga. And the only thing stranger than that story is the real story of Quiroga's life. Quiroga had many hard times throughout his life.

Quiroga was born in 1878 in Salto, right next to the Uruguay River. This river separates Uruguay and Argentina. Quiroga's father worked as an Argentinean government official. Quiroga's troubles started early; his father was shot and killed accidentally when Quiroga was just an infant. The family moved to the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo in 1891, where Quiroga went to college.