He was known as one of the most significant Argentine writers of his era. From a very wealthy family, Ricardo Guiraldes grew up both in urban Buenos Aires and on a cattle ranch.

From childhood, Guiraldes traveled with his family and later on his own, and must be one of the most widely traveled of all Argentine writers. He visited not only Europe in his lifetime, but Asia, Russia, Ceylon, and other more exotic places. Because of his stature in society and his subsequent marriage to a wealthy Argentine, he was afforded entry into salons wherever he went. He was social, and his literary ambitions were large. In the beginning, he wrote short stories some of which were good and received some notice, but mostly he thrashed around and couldnt seem to find his true calling.
When he did, it wasnt in the form of the things hed seen abroad, but of the pampas itself. His stories of the gaucho life were the ones that marked his long career. The most famous one is called Don Sequndo and Raucho. Guiraldes spoke several languages but it was French that seemed to leave such a strong mark on his literary tastes and styles. He became interested in the French theosophy theories, and it was the spiritual and intellectual change that he found in Paris that solidified his own interest in his country. He wrote many short stories and plays, and became much of a mentor and elder teacher to many of the young avant-garde writers of Argentina.

In his later years, his work was also finally accepted more widely in his own country. While the bookstores of Europe had long sold his work, it was back in Buenos Aires that he started to be read. Guiraldes never stopped traveling, and it was in Paris that he died - far from the pampas.

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